Apples
by Peanut-Alien-Ninja-Girl
Summary: All Madara wanted was a good fight, but instead he was sent to a place where all he could do was play statue. Maybe it was just bad karma, but he suspected their leader really hated him. - MadaraXOC; Happens before Madara was a clan leader
1. The frontiers are my prison

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters. I don't own my soul either, but that's a story for another time.

I guess I should say, just so you won't be confused, that his happens before Madara was the leader of the Uchiha. I also might eventually change the genre. Also, I hate the summary :3

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><p>"And there never was an apple, in Adam's opinion, that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it."<p>

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet – "Good Omens"

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><p>"<em>The frontier"<em> The man had said _"The place where boys become men, where the blood of our enemies rain, the place where I'm sending you and your brother. Only true heroes can protect the borders of our clan's territory."_

The frontier, huh? The most dangerous place a shinobi of the Uchiha could be sent to? Even more dangerous than the Land of Earth, where they were currently fighting against the Senju?

He would _kill_ Takehiko.

They were sent to the frontier, alright. They had spent a night in an inn in the nearest village. The place smelled like straw, their rooms like piss and their beds like manure. Fine. When the sun rose from behind the mountains, they went to a forest, to where the Uchiha's land finished in the north in front of a deep ravine. There were already three others there. They told them about the hardships of protecting the borders. Not what they were expecting, really. At least not what he had been expecting, for as soon as the other ninja said they hadn't seen an enemy every since they got there, his brother snickered and said _"I told you"_.

Like their leader said, it rained – quite frequently, actually - , but not blood, especially not of their enemies. The only thing that had fallen from the sky in the two weeks in which Madara and Izuna had been there was water.

Sadly, though, Takehiko had been mistaken in his first statement. Unless being a man meant being stinky, cold, hungry and very angry, Madara didn't think he was having much success.

The oldest brother had openly said he didn't want to spend more time with the three other Uchiha than he had to, thus he and Izuna moved to somewhere else, finding a spot where they could see the deep ravine, then all the valley down below: 'none's land '. It was far too open to anyone plan a surprise attack to their territory. Not only that, climbing all the way up there would be too bothersome. That scenery was impractical, and he couldn't imagine what sort of general would put their troops in such a place when they'd be easily spotted out and killed. All the more he suspected Takehiko had just been mocking him, and all the more he wanted to strangle the man.

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><p>It was the beginning of their fifteenth day in those woods, and Izuna was putting their soaked clothes in a wooden structure he had built with green branches above the bonfire to dry faster, while Madara sat down, playing with a rock, throwing it to the ground, picking it up, and throwing it again.<p>

"You know" the youngest suddenly said "You could help with something. I mean, just once in a while."

He grimaced but stood up. He wasn't having fun anyway.

"I'm going to get some food." Izuna merely nodded without even turning to him.

Madara put on his belt, that he had left tied to a tree, and grabbed his shoulder bag and war fan. He doubted he'd need his weapons in that place, but he liked to have his belongings with him all the time.

From where he and his brother had settled in, he knew how to get to the path that would take them back to the village and he had some money to buy them decent food, but maybe he should keep that for when they were traveling back to the stronghold. He could go to the places they usually went to get food, but he was already fed up (not literally) from all the small fruits and seeds, and one of those three morons scouting the frontier even convinced him to eat some kind of moss and it tasted horrible. He wanted something else; meat in particular… he couldn't even remember the taste of that anymore.

Madara decided he'd explore a little and see if he could find something else to eat. If he got lost he just had to walk to east until he found the cliff and follow it back to the camp.

The musky smell of the woods was suddenly replaced with the tender scent of fruits. He felt as if his feet moved on their own as they changed their original route and lead him to a large field, were apple trees sprouted from the ground.

Penetrating the orchard, he noted how appetizing the fruits looked, but one in particular lured him. It was just there, floating above him, as if its tremendous height wasn't a sign of defiance. He could even hear the apple laughing at his face.

Madara raised his arm and tried to grab the snack, but it was still far from him. He wasn't short, but the apple was hung so high up the tree he couldn't reach, not even when he stood on his toes. He growled, as if the poor fruit had decided to grow on that particular spot, just to anger him. He could very well have gone to look for another thing to eat, but that little apple hurt his ego. It was so far up, yet it had the brightest shade of red he had ever seen, and he had to have it. He _would_ have it.

Jumping, and hoping none was there to watch him make a fool of himself because of a fruit, he felt his fingers brushing against the soft peel. Finally he lost all the little patience he had, pulled his sword from its sheath and cut the twig that held the apple, quickly catching it.

He took a moment to admire the main dish of his breakfast, as if he had just conquered a treasure and wanted to bask in it before spending everything.

Just then, something came humming in his direction and hit him square in the face. With a scowl, the young man looked down and his dark eyes met another apple – a much less attractive than the one he was currently grasping.

"Stay away from the apples!"

He looked up to see his attacker. It was a girl, a kid about Izuna's age, with black unruly hair tied in a sloppy ponytail, plain looking clothing that was clearly too big for her, and a frown just as deep as his. By her feet lied wooden buckets filled with apples.

"Do you think those grow in trees?" She yelled, but corrected herself quickly, after she noticed the smirk that surged on his face "I mean – do you think they don't take effort to grow? Those apples make for our living, so if you are thinking you're just going to come here and steal them, then think again!"

The ninja raised an eyebrow and his hand at the same time, showing what he was holding.

"It's a fruit." The nonchalant tone of his voice changed to that of mockery "You surely wouldn't deny a starveling man a single fruit?" He wouldn't admit, but he'd put up a fight if the girl tried to get it from him. It meant so much more than a treat to him; it was the memento of his victory over the stubborn apple – as ridiculous as that sounded.

"If I let everyone who walked in here go out with an apple we'd be stripped from them in a day!" Once again she stumbled on her own words and quickly shook her head "Not in a day, but… You know what I mean!"

With an innocent blink of eyes, Madara brought the fruit closer to his mouth.

"Don't." She warned in a serious tone.

The apple approached his lips with excruciating slowness, but he didn't take his gaze from the girl, who seemed to widen her eyes and rise on her toes with every millimeter of distance that was shortened. It wasn't a mere fray because of food on his part – although he was hungry. It wasn't just fighting for money for her – yet, selling apples was everything her father and her could do to make a living. To both of them, it had become a battle for their prides, and the very first hit was struck by him.

With a swift movement, Madara took out a bite of the apple.

"Hmmmm…" He chewed, smiling and closing his eyes "That's the best apple I've ever had."

Words were not enough to describe that scene. In the girl's mind it was simply obscene. With a horrified expression, she watched him take another big morsel, until she decided to take a measure. Swinging the bucket by her feet in her hands, thus making all the apples fall to the ground, the girl jumped in his direction.

He was rather surprised with her actions, and also with the fact that she seemed to have a minimum of taijutsu experience. Obviously, she did not compare to him, even cogitating such thing was an enormous affront. Maybe she'd be able to defeat an ordinary bandit, but no ninja would find her a threat. He found her attempts to hit him funny, even cute, as if she were a small child. They reminded him of his brother, when he was much, much, _much_ younger.

Grinning, he blocked her punch with his left arm (the one that held the apple), and grabbed her wrist with his free hand when she tried to hit his head with the bucket. The girl tried to kick him, but he was faster and pushed her leg away with his own. She let out a yelp when he turned her around, twisting her arm and pinning it to her back, but he quickly shoved her forward, and she stumbled, trying to keep her balance.

"Don't tell me that it's all you've got! But, my, you looked so strong at a first glance!"

Angered – and it showed on her now red face – the girl launched the empty bucket, but he dodged it without trouble and she yelled in frustration.

"What's going on?" A soft, yet clearly masculine voice called from behind the trees, and both turned on that direction.

"Father…!" The girl half yelled half sighed in relief, and ran to the man who had just walked into their field of vision "He… He stole an apple!"

She was clinging to the sleeve of her father's shirt, jumping up and down and pointing at the boy frenetically.

The farmer smiled kindly at his daughter and looked at him. He was tall and bonny, with very thin black hair that greatly contrasted with the dark mane the other two had. There was also something about his eyes that made Madara… slightly worried, but he'd never say that out loud.

"Are you fighting?" The man asked with a same small smile "In the frontier, I mean."

"Yes." He answered dryly, feeling as if he was lying. What he was doing couldn't be called fighting (unless the occasional arguments with Izuna counted) and he wasn't feeling like he was doing anything useful to the clan.

"Why didn't you let him have the apples, then?" This time, the farmer turned at the girl who was still tugging to his clothing "You know I told you to be nice to the ninja. They're protecting us. The least we could do is giving them food."

"B-but…" the girl whined "Father! He hurt me!"

"And I assume you did nothing to provoke him first?" She blushed and retreated, staring at her feet, while Madara just smirked.

"But at the same time" The man proceeded, this time talking to him again "it's not something you'll want to tell your companions. Hurting a girl does not denote courage, if you ask me."

He frowned, but inwardly had to agree. Fighting her would do him no good. She was not even remotely close to his level, and besides, they were on the same side.

"My name is Katsuro." He introduced himself politely "And my stubborn daughter is Ringo."

"Ringo?" The youngest man snickered, and the girl shot him a dirty look "Well, that's creative…"

"And you?" Katsuro asked

For a moment, he hesitated, but realizing he had nothing to fear, uttered his name.

"Madara."

The expression on the peasants' faces changed in a flash. Ringo looked back at him with her jaw dropped, and the man, while not nearly as astonished as the girl, still showed surprise by his arched eyebrows.

"So you've heard of me?" He asked. It wasn't really that shocking; his fame began growing exponentially after he had defeated one of the highest ranking squads of the Obake clan all by himself, and - dared he say - he was as well known by the Uchiha as that bastard Hashirama was by the Senju.

"Of course" Katsuro replied in a careful tone, and Madara mentally praised himself for intimidating the man "Everyone has… And we are very thankful for what you've been doing…" He moved his hands in an ample gesture "…for all of us"

He wasn't really sure as how to reply, so he settled with a curt nod of his head.

"You must be hungry." The farmer stated "And tired. Would you like to come in?" At that, the girl made a high-pitched noise, but her father seemed to ignore "If there is anything we can do to help…"

"I just came here to get something for me and my brother to eat" He replied.

"Well, then!" Katsuro's smile only widened "Bring him too! You can't live just on apples. We'd be happy to get you both something better to eat."

At this point, Ringo had already given up and walked away talking to herself angrily, but Madara didn't pay her any mind. The only thing he cared about right now was what the man said.

Something to eat. Something better to eat. Good food was one of the things he missed about being away from the clan compound, along with a bed to sleep on and regular baths. He was so tired of sleeping on the hard forest ground, with only dead leaves to work as a mattress; he couldn't stand the taste of berries and nuts anymore; and just now he noticed he didn't smell of roses either.

With the new promise of food, he sent all the mistrust to the air and returned a smirk.

"I will."

"Our house is just on the other side of the field. It's the only one, there's no way you could mistake it." Once again, he just nodded, his mind too filled with images of warm dishes to pay attention "We'll be waiting for you, Madara-sama."

Even if his eyes gave him mixed feelings, the man seemed to be aware that if he tried anything funny, his head would be rolling before he could count to three. Madara liked people who knew their places and people who gave him food, so Katsuro was doing quite well on his concept.

No more words were needed: Madara gave the apple another bite and turned to the other direction, running towards the same place he had come from. The longer he took to get to Izuna, the later he'd get to eat.

'Madara-sama' He thought to himself with a smirk 'I like how it sounds…'

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><p>Useless notes:<p>

1 – Izuna isn't really "a child". Personally, I pictured him being two-three years Madara's junior, but that's just how Maddie sees him.

2 – Ringo means "apple". Hur hur hur /trollface

3 – If you're curious, here's Ringo: ht tp:/metal-amaya. deviantart. com/ art/ Ringo-282004592 (just remove the spaces, 'kay?)


	2. Over this hill there's happiness

During the walk to the camp Madara made it sure to memorize the way back to the cultivar; he didn't want to pass the opportunity of getting food as easy as that.

He also promised himself to never let the three other who were scouting the frontier with him and Izuna found out about that. And just to make sure that would remain a secret, he put the now finished apple under the roots of a tree and kicked a small stone to hide it better.

His brother was in the edge of the cliff staring to the valley. That view was beautiful, Madara had to admit. The lowlands were sewn with sparkling silver threads of varied thickness (rivers) and extended to east, until the vegetation changed from grass to trees – the Senju territory. To north he could see many small villages, until the plains turned into hills and mountains – the Land of Earth. And, if he looked south, he almost could see his favorite location of their dominion.

If one went a few miles passed the stronghold they'd find a touristic village by the sea shore. Technically, it wasn't their lands, but the place was either surrounded by water or Uchiha, so that never made a lot of difference.

As soon as Izuna noticed his presence he turned around and ran to him, opening his bag and rummaging inside. After a few seconds, he took his hands out as if they were holding something.

"Wow, aniki, thank you!" He exclaimed with a bright smile "It smells delicious!"

And he gave the air a big bite.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Madara asked frowning

"Why, I'm eating the food you brought! Except you didn't!"

Growling, he hit the back of his brother head.

"Ow – but you have to admit I'm right. Seriously… tease me then don't please me; what kind of human being are you? And to think I believed, even for a moment-"

He was interrupted by another hit in the same spot.

"I got us food."

"You did? Hand it over, then!"

"No, wait" Madara shook his head "I met some peasants a while ago, and they invited us to eat with them."

"Uh, really?" Izuna gave an unsure smile "That seems really suspicious to me. Are you sure we can trust them?"

"Their chakras are too weak and I felt none else nearby. If they try anything funny we kill them and steal their food."

Izuna pursed his lips, but nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we could do that."

The walk back to the orchard took longer, as Madara used the time to explain what had happened. He told about how he tried to get an apple to eat, and the farmer's mad daughter had attacked him, and how the man had invited the two of them to eat, and that he called him "Madara-sama". Of course, he "forgot" to tell how the girl hit his face with an apple and how something in the middle aged man's eyes made him feel uneasy. Those were just details anyway.

When they reached the orchard, there was none there to greet them, not that it was surprising. Madara crossed the field like he knew exactly where he was going.

"Don't you think it's weird to have a plantation right here in the middle of the woods?" Izuna asked, but his brother merely grinned.

"There's a town nearby; you worry too much, Izu-chan."

The boy flinched at the childish nickname.

"Maybe I do. I just wish you had told me that when I said scouting the frontier was a bad idea," Madara frowned at that "but, hey, we always do what you want to do, why would that or this time be any different?"

"Then what do you want to do?" The young man asked visibly irritated

"Whatever you want to do, dear brother of mine."

"Tsc, stop victimizing yourself!"

"Victimizing?" Izuna's eyes widened slightly before he shook his head "Why would I do that? I'd be making a villain of myself."

"Well, then stop doing that!" The other snapped

His brother could have shrugged, but since he had his back to him he wouldn't have seen, so he left it at that.

After a few minutes of wandering, without the faintest idea of where he should go, Madara spotted a house. It was fairly big and old looking, made of dark wood, and he thought it could fall down about any minute, if it weren't for all the plants surrounding the building, as if to give it some form of support. Vines climbed to the ground from the porch, going up the walls until they reached the tall roof covered with straw, but they seemed to have been pruned to avoid the windows and door. The house was surrounded by bushes and trees of all sizes, and, for a moment, he even thought if it was coming from the plants, growing from them like a flower would, but quickly shook that notion away. He really couldn't imagine what kind of person would want to live in a place like that.

As soon he smelled food inside, though, all his doubts vanished, and he kicked off his shoes by the porch and opened the sliding door without ceremonies, with Izuna close behind.

The inside was better than the outside. The house still looked old, but somewhat bigger and much more inviting. It was warm and smelled like an inhabited house should.

Two people were setting the table in the center of the room. Izuna couldn't help but think they wouldn't have made that food if it weren't for the two of them coming over.

"Ah" Katsuro greeted with a smile, and then he turned to the youngest of the brothers with a small bow "Izuna-sama"

The boy nodded, the honorific making him somewhat uncomfortable and even more suspicious. Just like Madara, he thought there was something wrong with the man's eyes, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.

"Katsuro and Ringo, right?"

The man bowed his head solemnly, while his daughter only gave a short nod.

"You've been protecting the frontiers for how long now?" The farmer asked

"We've been there for two weeks, but I wouldn't say we've been protecting anything" Izuna stated, almost sighing when he saw his brother walking to the table to take a look at what they'd eat, leaving him to do the socializing. Again.

"Not a lot of things to do?" Katsuro offered, solicit

"To say the least… My brother didn't thank you for your hospitality, did he?"

"That's not needed" The man made a small sound that Izuna assumed to be a low chuckle "We're more than happy to help the shinobi of our clan."

"I see…"

He said that while staring at the girl who looked at his older brother as if, if she glared hard enough, he would suddenly burst into flames. Madara apparently hadn't noticed that, as he still had his eyes glued to the food.

"My daughter is defensive of strangers" Katsuro smiled apologetically when he noticed what he was looking at.

"That's actually a good thing" The boy grinned.

"Ah, Rin-chan, you've finished?" The peasant asked and Ringo nodded, setting the last dish in the table "Then we can begin eating!"

"You first" Madara sneered at the girl

"It's not poisoned." She answered looking up at him.

"You be the judge of that."

Not before sending the ninja a hostile glance, she grabbed a piece of sashimi with her fingers and swallowed it.

"…Want me to try the rice too?"

"If you'll be so kind…"

"Alright, we can start eating first!" Katsuro interrupted just when the girl had opened the mouth to reply "If you don't feel you can trust us yet, Madara-sama"

The man kneeled down beside his daughter, and the two started picking up portions of fish, rice and pickled vegetables.

"Itadakimasu" The middle aged man joined his hands and mumbled, while the girl copied his gestures.

They also poured down in two cups a liquid that looked like milk, only slightly yellow.

Once the brother's decided the food was safe to eat they joined the farmers.

"What do you think of the food?" Katsuro asked with a smile

"It's really good" Izuna answered with a similar expression, but then he face became serious again "Say, Katsuro-san… We're far from the ocean… are there any rivers nearby?"

"Yes, there's one just a little more to west. You must've been camping near the ravine, then. There are not good water sources there"

"It shows" Ringo commented cheerfully, while playing with a slice of cucumber "… and smells."

Her father sent her a warning glance, but Izuna merely grinned.

"I guess we killed all the flies of the area on our way here."

The girl looked up surprised, then gave him a small smile and looked back to her food.

"If you want to" Katsuro started "we can show you were the river is. It's not too far. There's also a shortcut to the village."

"That seems very useful" The youngest brother nodded "Though we can't take too long or else the other three shinobi who are scouting the frontier with us will notice we're missing"

That wasn't entirely true, but who cared?

"Ah, I see. You can come back some other day, then."

"Gross…"

The two turned their heads at Ringo. She stared at Madara - who had thrown his head back and was gulping down four slices of sashimi at once - with a mix of amazement and disgust.

"Doesn't that get stuck in your throat?"

"If I'm still breathing it's because it doesn't" He answered after swallowing down the raw fish.

"Can't you eat like a normal person?"

"Can't you be quiet?"

"Hey!"

"Ringo, please" Katsuro interrupted, suddenly looking very tired and old

"Father!" The girl protested "He told me to shut up!"

"I said 'be quiet'" Madara remarked without looking up from his bowl of rice "but that works too."

"Does that matter?"

"Rin, please, I…" The farmer sighed and shook his head "I'm sorry. Madara-sama, Izuna-sama… I'll be honest. There is another reason why I invited the two of you here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Will you remember me?

"By any chance" Katsuro continued "Do either of you know a boy named Michio?"

Izuna furrowed his brows and looked at his brother, who also had a confused expression on his face.

"Well, not really a boy. He must be older than you, Madara-sama."

"His hair is shorter too" Ringo added in a low voice "He has bangs and he ties the hair in the front with bandages."

"He must have changed some, though" Her father reminded her

"We can't remember anyone by this name" Izuna said.

"He's my son" Katsuro said "He left almost a year ago, saying he wanted to become a ninja."

"And he's older than me?" Madara's eyebrow rose "It takes years just to learn how to manipulate chakra. No ninja would want to teach a kid older than ten."

"He had had some training before" Ringo hissed.

Madara almost remarked that, if Michio was the one to teach her, he didn't know anything impressive, but he was interrupted before opening his mouth.

"He said he was going to the stronghold to search someone willing to train him" The father stated "We haven't heard of him since then"

"I'm sorry, but we don't know anyone named Michio" Izuna explained.

"I understand." Katsuro smiled "Still, we're glad to have you here with us."

The rest of the meal went by silently, and as soon as they finished eating, the two brothers were already picking up their things and getting ready to leave.

"Going so soon?" The older man asked

"As I said, our companions will start getting worried" Izuna gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"There's nothing else you need from us? A warm bath, anything?"

A bag fell to the wooden floor.

"We'll take it" Madara said decisively.

"Really…?" Izuna turned to him and whispered exasperatedly.

The farmer gave a polite smile.

"I'll get the bath ready and… Rin, can you get them clean clothes?"

"Can't, I'm washing the dishes" The girl replied quickly, picking up the empty bowls and prancing to the kitchen.

"…Ringo…"

A sigh was heard.

"I'll see what I can find…" She walked out of the kitchen and opened a_ shoji_ door to another room.

When the girl was out of view Katsuro turned to them and smiled.

"I'm sorry, but it may take a while to get everything ready. Is that a problem?"

Izuna looked at his brother's resolute expression and decided that he wouldn't be able to get him out of the house even if he used force. But a bath did seem like a nice idea.

"It's fine, we'll wait." He smiled.

The man bowed his head and walked out of the house, and when Izuna couldn't hear his steps anymore, he sighed.

"You know, those three will notice if they see us clean and with different clothes."

Madara snorted

"The idiots wouldn't notice a thing that's more than two fingers in front of their eyes." And to demonstrate, he made the gesture "And I don't care if they do. It's not like we owe them anything; we found this place first."

* * *

><p>Father's clothes wouldn't fit; he was too tall and meager. The images of Izuna fighting the hems of long pants and Madara choking on the collar of a tight shirt surged on Ringo's mind and she smirked. Maybe the shirt wasn't that bad of an idea…<p>

But that was out of question. The girl knew she'd get scolded afterwards for that joke about their smells, and she didn't want to have anything else added to that list.

The only option was to get Michio's clothes. If anything, they'd be a little long to Madara, and she was sure some of her brother's older clothes would fit Izuna. She just didn't want to let other people use Michio's things when he was not there to agree – though she had this feeling he would. 'That's just how he is'.

For a moment she thought about giving then her own outfits, but quickly shook that idea away. She realized that wouldn't even be funny.

Defeated, she walked up to the closet on the farthest end of the room and pulled from inside a few sets of clothes. She picked black pants and a black shirt for the eldest brother, folded them again, and put them aside to find something for the youngest to wear.

She had to practically crawl inside one of the shelves to find Michio's old clothes. They were still big for Izuna, but she didn't want to search any further.

"His own fault for being small." She muttered with a shrug, and finally looked inside the lower shelf to find underwear.

Ringo left the room and handed the ninja sitting on the floor a pile of clothes each. Izuna smiled and thanked her, while Madara nodded his head in acknowledgment.

She stood beside them for about five seconds, until she understood they wouldn't ask anything else of her, and went to a nearby window to look outside.

Maybe, after so many years of living in that place, she'd feel bored of the same old view, but she didn't. She thought she should; that was what most heroes or heroines did in stories, but no matter how much she looked outside through that very window, the view never ceased to take her breath away.

"Oi" A voice called behind her, and reluctantly she turned around "Shouldn't we get towels with that?"

She stared at Madara for a moment (it took her a while to process things), but then her eyes widened slightly and she felt stupid.

"Oh, Yes… I'm sorry"

Just as she said that, Ringo regretted immensely.

"N-no, wait!" She yelled after stopping on her way back to the room "I'm not!"

And under the two's gazes she regretted saying that even more.

"And?" The oldest finally asked.

She felt blood rushing to her face and her lips curling into a frown. Their expressions were what bothered her the most. Izuna seemed slightly confused, looking at her with slight pity, as if she had some kind of problem. Madara just seemed outright bored, but she could even hear him saying – and for a moment she wondered if she could read his mind – "You're an idiot" in the most deadpan way possible.

Hurriedly, she turned back to the room and vanished behind the _shoji_ door.

Ringo started digging on a different part of the _oshiire_ and found two cloths the brothers could use to dry themselves. When she was pulling them, one fell to the floor in a mess. She picked it up without bothering to fold it again. That one, she decided, she would give to Madara.

She left the room and handed them the towels, avoiding looking at their faces as she went to her previous position by the window. She could leave and start picking apples again, but she didn't want to leave the two of them alone in the house, more because she suspected of them rather than because she didn't want to be a bad host.

Neither of them spoke a word to her, so she didn't say a thing. Ringo didn't mind. She preferred it that way.

It didn't take long for her father to stride back inside with a pleased expression.

"The water is ready" He said "Which one of you would like to take a bath first…?"

Madara instantly shot up, dropping his things beside his brother.

"Ah, well, let me show you the bathroom" Katsuro smiled and led the boy to one of the sliding doors, both vanishing after turning around a corner

Due to that sudden intromission, Ringo was finding it hard to go back to watching the scenery again. Her attention was suddenly caught by one of Madara's belongings. There was another one of those things strapped to Izuna's back.

"What's that?"

He raised his eyes with a confused expression and the girl shook her head.

"I mean, in your back"

"Oh, that?" He smirked, grabbing the one Madara had left behind and stretched it in front of himself "It's a war fan"

"A war fan? I thought they were smaller?"

His smile only widened when he saw the look of wonder in her eyes.

"Well… I suppose we're megalomaniacal" Izuna chuckled.

Ringo mouthed an 'o' and remained quiet for a second.

"But it seems unpractical… Doesn't that get in the way when… You know?" He raised an eyebrow and the girl started making random signs with her hands, until he noticed what she was trying to say.

"You mean forming the hand seals?"

"Yeah, that" She nodded.

"It's only a matter of getting used to it, actually."

"Ah… And what do you use it for?"

He could feel the flood of questions coming…

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First, there probably won't be an update next week. Probably.

Just so you won't be confused, oshiire is that Japanese closet. Also, I hate that blasted war fan… I've no idea what it is for or why is it so big. That's compensation, I tell you!

Also, pícture related ~~ ht tp: / /metal .com/#/d4nwcsx


	4. How strong my sorrow grows

Katsuro had opened a little door that led them to a small room in a lowered floor. It was covered by wooden planks, and the only window in the room was narrow and barred, and it opened to the dark hallway they had just came from.

As soon as the older man left, Madara started inspecting the place.

He examined a bamboo pipe coming from a circular hole in the wall and how it ended just above the wood basin filled with water. On a shelf he found a comb, the remains of something he assumed was soap and a pot with a brown liquid. After taking a better look at the three items he decided they were safe to use.

Madara took off his clothes and stepped into the tub (but not before spending a few minutes struggling with his hair to untangle it). When his body came in contact with the water he felt his muscles stiffen, and he stood there grabbing the edges of the basin firmly, as if he was waiting for something to come out of a secret passage in the wall to startle him, but, finally, he allowed himself to relax and submerged to the point the water covered his mouth, and he breathed, relieved.

Hadn't his brother been outside, waiting for his turn, he'd probably have spent a longer time in there.

Madara dried himself and put on the clean clothes. They fitted nicely enough.

He gathered the heap of dirty fabrics and left, suddenly feeling a lot less stinky, cold, hungry and angry.

Izuna would often tell him every time he became too absorbed in a fight how he shouldn't show his most powerful techniques to his opponents, how he shouldn't gloat about his skills, how confidence would get him killed… It was somewhat ironic that now his brother was listing and explaining in details their fire jutsu to a girl. Perhaps she wasn't dangerous, but couldn't that be called hypocrisy?

"I've finished" Madara declared, and the two teenagers looked up at him, being too engrossed on their conversation to notice his presence before he spoke "Last door to the left. But if you don't want to take a bath, we can always go back to the camp."

The youngest rolled his eyes and stood up, picking the borrowed clothes from the ground and leaving the room through the same door

For a moment, Ringo seemed somewhat upset that her companion and source of entertainment was walking away, but her frown turned into a relaxed expression.

"So…" She started, and it took Madara a second to notice she was talking to him "What do you do?"

'…What sort of question is that?'

"I kill people" He answered while stuffing his clothes in his bag. He figured it would answer her question and intimidate her at the same time, and she wouldn't bother him anymore.

"Hum hum" She nodded "And how do you do that?"

"Finding creative ways to prevent their circulatory system from working properly" He replied, surprised at how fast the answer came to him.

"Oh" Ringo seemed to be getting annoyed now "And what 'creative ways' are those?"

"Where's your father?"

"Picking apples to take to the village to sell in a few days; what creative ways?"

His attempt at changing subjects was seemingly in vain, so he decided to give the girl what she wanted. Maybe she'd run out of questions.

"Burning, beheading, disemboweling, dismembering, stabbing, drowning, strangling, crushing, making them bleed to death… You pick."

Once more she nodded.

"And how do you burn people?"

Madara smirked. He couldn't resist…

"With fire."

Her cheeks inflated and became red, her dark eyes narrowed, her nose lifted up and her mouth turned into a thin line. He had seen her make that face more than in one occasion on that day, so he assumed that was her expression when angry.

Ringo huffed and turned to the other side, and Madara leaned against the wall, very much pleased with himself. And then, suddenly… She started talking again.

"The ones you are wearing… those are my brother's favorite clothes" She commented without looking at him "He didn't take them with him because he thought they'd end up getting ripped or something."

"Hn." All he wanted was a few minutes of silence. Was that too much to ask?

"He looks much better in them than you."

He wouldn't dignify that with even the smallest grunt.

"You know" She said again after a moment "the last time we had any sort of trouble was a while ago, some thieves… We dealt with them by ourselves, some villagers beat and tied them to a tree for a while… We always did everything by ourselves; we don't need ninja here."

"I've noticed" He answered sullen.

The reason why he decided to take the mission wasn't entirely for trusting in Takehiko (which he didn't at all) but because he knew for a fact that the Uchiha were facing trouble on their frontier, and in serious risk of losing some of their land. He only didn't know that it was in the western portion of their territory.

Ever since Madara could remember the clan always had this sort of problem. Insurgence of smaller clans they had conquered decades ago suddenly started being more than a pathetic attempt and became seriously worrying; the supplies designated to go to a specific place would frequently never get there; they only lost territory and influence with the passing of time, and not only that, the Uchiha had the highest rate of defecting ninja. The clan was slowly falling apart… And of every place, _that_ village was where their leader sent them.

They didn't need them. They didn't need any form of protection because there was nothing to be feared there. Izuna and he were useless there, just as the other three shinobi. His desire was to gather his things, get back to the stronghold and demand an actual mission, but he had never left his post before, and he didn't intend on doing it anytime soon.

The girl didn't speak anymore, which he was thankful for, and soon enough his brother showed up.

"Ready to leave?" Madara asked pushing himself from the wall

"As long as you don't want to abuse of people's hospitality anymore, yes, I am." The other smiled and he growled in reply.

"They offered..."

"Are you going to come again?" Ringo interrupted "I mean; are you going to come here again?"

"We wouldn't like to be too much of a bother" Izuna answered, and the girl nodded "It was a pleasure meeting you, though."

She seemed unsure of what to say, so she just smiled at him.

"I'll go outside with you too… I have to help father anyways."

Ringo was the first to leave and they followed her to the orchard. Katsuro wasn't too far away, plucking apples from the trees and using long twig to hit the branches when one of the fruits was too high for him to reach.

"Ah, you are leaving now?" The farmer asked momentarily stopping with his activity

"Yes, it would be best if we stayed in our post." Izuna explained "Even if we don't have any utility there, should a word get out we weren't in the frontier…"

"I see" The man chuckled "We would hate to give you any sort of trouble… But, say, wouldn't you like us to show you at least the river? There's always plenty of food nearby, and the water isn't too cold… Not that we wouldn't invite you to eat with us anymore!" He quickly corrected himself, and his daughter (who had already gotten herself a few buckets and was picking apples as well) shot him a disbelieving look.

"Oh… Well, I suppose a few minutes of delay wouldn't cause us trouble"

"Unfortunately" Katsuro started, and the brothers' visages fell slightly "We are in a hurry and have to get those apples together and put them in the cellar until we can take them to the village. I have a contract with a man, you see; I take care of the product and he takes care of the sales. If I am just a day late I'll make his life difficult, which will only make my life difficult… We can't really show you the place today, but if you come here in… say, three days, we'll be more than happy to help."

For a moment, the idea of helping those peasants crossed the two ninja's mind, but, quick as it came, it was gone. They were bored and wanted to know where the river was, but not so much they were willing to _help_ anyone.

"We are not in a hurry." Madara concluded.

"Have we thanked you yet?" Izuna asked.

"Yes, but as I've said, there's no need." The farmer shook his head "We're happy to be helping the shinobi of our clan."

At that statement, Ringo snorted and the man gave her a reprimand, which she gladly ignored.

"So we'll see you in three days?" Katsuro asked, turning to the boys.

"Three days." Izuna assured him with a confident smirk "It was a pleasure meeting you, Katsuro-san, Ringo-chan."

The older man bowed and the girl looked at him for a brief moment and smiled before continuing with her service.

The two brothers started walking away, and when they were far enough, the youngest let his shoulders drop and sighed.

All that socializing was tiring to Izuna, while Madara hadn't gotten tired of that in a long time… but maybe because he usually left all the talking to his brother. None of the two ever found much pleasure in the company of other people than not themselves. There were very few exceptions to this rule, and there was not a person one of the brothers liked whom the other didn't like too, and if one of them disliked someone the other would dislike them too. It was somewhat of a silent agreement

The main reason why Izuna would talk to the people they didn't like was because he didn't seem to find painful not throwing occasional rude comments on a casual conversation, and the chances of them getting kicked of places was smaller, but one would be foolish believing he liked people anymore than Madara did.

On their way to the camp, already deep in the forest, they found two of the three other ninja scouting the area.

"Oi" One of them raised his hand in a greeting "Where were you?"

"Looking for food" The friendly tone in Izuna's voice had dimmed considerably. There wasn't a particular rudeness in the other's words, but he and Madara had already decided they didn't like him. "You?"

"Same" He answered saddened

"Where's that guy that was with you?"

"Who, Matahachi?" Asked the other, who was crouched near a tree looking at the ground "He left."

"Left? Did his turn end?"

"Ah, no. He just left, you know. Said he was tired of everything, that it was not worth it and this clan was hopeless… He climbed down the ravine and started walking away."

"And you just let him walk away?" The older brother asked raising an eyebrow.

"What could we do?" The ninja who was standing shrugged.

"He fucking defected, dammit!" Madara suddenly shouted "Someone spits on your clan's name and you let them walk away like it's nothing!"

"Well, frankly, he didn't do a thing that hasn't crossed our minds before."

"Life is though." The other added, shaking his head.

"Or maybe it's just you who are too soft." He sneered and walked by them without any other word.

Izuna followed him and also didn't say anything, but inwardly he wished his brother had a better control of his tongue. They still didn't have to make enemies within their own clan.

When they got to the camp, Madara dropped his things and plopped himself in a fallen tree trunk, resting his arms on his knees and leaning forward to glare at the view.

On the other hand, Izuna was happy enough for being clean and well feed once more, and decided not to take his annoyance with those three excuses for ninja on his surroundings.

"I said they wouldn't notice." Madara declared out loud to none in particular, as he scanned the valley with burning eyes. There wasn't just annoyance, the other noticed, it was controlled fury. His eyes were too narrowed and his fists too clenched.

"Izuna, sit here, I want to tell you something."

He was curious of what his brother could want to tell him at that moment, especially sounding so serious about it, so he sat down.

"There's something that's been on my head for a while… You tell me if I'm crazy when I finish telling you what it is."

* * *

><p>'<em>This is the last basket'<em> Ringo smiled at that thought. Now they only had to take the apples to the village, give them to their contractor, get the money and then they could rest for a while, before starting the cycle all over again. She didn't mind, though; the very beginning was her favorite part of the job.

It was the ending of the third day, and no signal of the two brothers. While she had wanted to hear more about their job as ninja, she was also happy that they wouldn't be there to eat more of their food.

Her father closed the door of the root cellar and locked it, seeming pleased for having finished that task as well.

Side by side, they walked back to their house in a slow pace.

"They are not going to come back, you know." The girl said and looked at her father to see his reaction. He didn't say anything, and just stared forward with the same serene smile.

Ringo looked up at the sky. It was still blue, but it couldn't fool her. The smell in the air was all too familiar.

"There's a storm coming." She observed.

"And this is exactly why" The man started "they are going to come back today."

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Aside from the ending this chapter is not very relevant… Gosh, it's been over a month IRL and it's barely the first day in the story =_='


	5. The sky is always falling down on me

Perhaps the worst thing about scouting that part of the frontier was the boredom, Madara concluded. He had been in situations where he had less food, comfort and opportunities to take a bath, but invariably there was always something to do, always someone to fight, but now there was nothing to do but staying still and pretending to be doing something.

As he turned a sharp branch in which he had impaled a dead rabbit over the fire to cook, he couldn't help but think of what the ninja on the other end of the frontier were doing now. The Genji clan had been conquered by the Uchiha and their territory annexed to theirs. Ever since, they had been looking for a way to get their land back, but all the insurgences had always been reprimanded successfully. Well, up to that point, at least. Suddenly the revolts, mere ruckuses in the past, turned into a full-blown guerrilla, and the fear of losing that area became very real.

He _wanted_ to be there. He even refused going to war against the Senju just so he could fight the Genji. He had heard of how they were master at surprise attacks and how they could find a person no matter where they hid, and he wanted to see for himself how their odd kekkei-genkai dealt with the Sharingan, and most of all, _his_ Sharingan.

The more action he had gotten in that place had been chasing the dish he was now cooking. He looked up and smiled at the bright brown and caramel animal that was once grey. Now, _that_ was a handsome rabbit.

When the last bite of his portion of the rodent was eaten, Madara's humor became dark again. He had been content when chasing the rabbit and calm when cooking it, but now that he had nothing to occupy his hands and mind with, bitter thoughts filled his head.

Izuna sighed when he saw what his brother was doing. Madara had recently acquired the habit of sitting in that same tree trunk, resting his elbows on his legs and putting his mouth on the same level of his intertwined hands and glaring at everything in sight. Not that he had ever been the most cheerful person, but that sudden tendency of scanning his surroundings with rage had started worrying the other.

He sat down beside his brother and tried to look for whatever that had caught his interest in the scenery.

"Stop hiding" The oldest finally said, and for a moment Izuna thought he was talking to an enemy that had managed to sneak behind them and he hadn't felt the presence, but then realized who he was really talking to.

"They can't hear you." He shook his head, smiling.

"And what if I yell?" The expression on Madara's face softened a bit and his voice sounded a little sad.

"You could try" the shinobi replied amused ", but your lungs would be bleeding before the Senju heard you."

"Hn."

"But" Izuna exclaimed, tapping his knees and standing up "I'm one of those who believes that nothing is impossible, so, tell me brother, what is it you want to say to the Senju?"

"What?" The other's eyebrows furrowed and he looked up in confusion.

"You don't know? What a shame… Well, then I will give my message for the two of us." He grinned, brought his hands to his mouth and took a deep breath. "Oi!" He yelled at the horizon "You Senju sons and daughters of a whore! Yes, I'm talking to all of you, girlies!" Madara started snickering "We've fought you before and we'll fight you again – just as we've won before and we'll win again! Your time is counted!" He breathed again, and just as he was going to sit down, he turned around and shouted one more thing "But don't fret! Your asses belong to the Uchiha and we'll be the only ones to kick them!"

He wasn't sure of exactly when he and his brother started laughing soundly and shaking their heads, but he knew neither of them had laughed like that in a long while.

"Izuna, have you finally gone mad?" Madara asked.

"Well, I do have to keep up with you" He retorted with a smirk.

"As if you could…" The other challenged.

Izuna pushed his brother from his sitting position, making him fall to the ground with a grunt, and, before either of them realized, their sparring session started, and it went like that for all the afternoon. Sure, the forest wasn't the best place for that, but that was the last of their worries.

When they finally stopped, they were panting and sweating. Madara started a new bonfire and they lamented for a while for not having searched for any food for the evening, before agreeing that the rabbit had been enough to fill their stomachs for the day.

"Hey, are we going to go there again?" Izuna inquired

"Where?"

"To the orchard, genius" He rolled his eyes "Katsuro said he'd give us food if we ever needed… besides, it's been three days, and he said they would show us the river."

"No" Madara shook his head "We'll look for the river tomorrow by ourselves. I don't want to keep depending on anyone."

Izuna nodded and didn't touch on that subject for the rest of the evening.

* * *

><p>When the sun set, the rain started to fall. In the beginning they didn't pay it any mind, as it was just a small drizzle, but now…<p>

Sitting in the trunk and shooting daggers from their eyes became a trend amongst the two brothers. In that position, they trembled from the cold and glared at the place where fire used to burn before the water and wind extinguished it, their gazes only adverting when a particularly large branch was thorn from a nearby tree.

Ever since they had arrived there, the weather had never been that bad.

"Izuna" Madara called, but he noticed his brother hadn't listened to him through the whistling of the wind, so he repeated louder "Izuna"

This time the boy looked up shakily.

"We a-are leaving" In normal circumstances he would have mentally scolded himself for stuttering, but now it was not the time.

"L-leaving? Where to?"

"Where to?" He replied mockingly "T-to the peasants' house, dammit!"

Izuna didn't argue and picked up his things, and Madara copied his actions.

The ground was muddy, the rain lashed on their backs mercilessly and somewhere not too far thunder roared and lighting flashed in the sky, but the two continued on their journey without complaints. Except for once…

"Ouch!" Izuna suddenly yelled.

"What?" Madara turned around.

"Your hair..." The other replied while rubbing his face "it got into my eye..."

"And your whining got into my ear; shut up!"

Finally they arrived at the plantation, only recognizable because of the space the trees had between one another.

It took them a few more minutes to get to the house, but as soon as they were there, Madara almost tore the sliding door apart, and the two stepped inside, shivering and soaked to the bone.

"Oh, my, what it-!" Katsuro exclaimed with an emotion of borderline terror "Ringo, go get them something to cover with! Come on in, come on in!" He gestured for the brothers to approach and the girl ran to another room "You two must be freezing… Come, sit by the fire!"

The shinobi approached the _irori_ in the middle of the room and dropped to their knees, letting their belongings fall to their sides.

Soon, Ringo walked in carrying two heavy blankets and tossed one at each of their heads. While the boys dried themselves and warped the fabrics around their shoulders she kneeled near the fireplace, looking from one to the other with a look of wonder.

"You came back…" She whispered, as if she was talking to two deities instead of two humans.

"Ringo, fix them somewhere to sleep!" Katsuro's voice boomed from the kitchen. His tone was much more authoritarian than the brothers assumed it could get "They are spending the night here!"

The girl left the room hurriedly, while her father walked inside, balancing a trey with two large cups, which the brothers accepted silently.

"My, I hope you don't get a cold…" The man mused out loud "or anything of the sorts… But, Ringo, this is for today!"

"I'm finishing it!" The girl yelled

"No, no, you have to set their beds here!"

"Huh?"

Katsuro muttered something neither of them cared to understand and went after his daughter.

"Now what?" Izuna asked glaring at the other from the corner of his eyes, but as soon as he took a sip, his expression turned into a content smile "Hm, Amazake!" He declared pleased and drank some more.

"We'll sleep, what else?" Madara answered, visibly not as pleased with the drink as his brother, and the two spoke no more words.

The farmers walked into the room, dragging behind them two futons.

"You arrived just the right time; we were almost going to bed" The man said, his aggressive tone changing completely.

"That early?" Izuna furrowed his brows

"Early?" Katsuro seemed genuinely confused "I… I suppose we sleep earlier over here. Aren't you tired?"

"A little" He admitted, remembering his sparring with Madara

"Well, your beds are ready and you can go to sleep whenever you want to" The peasant smiled "Of course… you're our guests. And if you need anything, my bedroom is the first to the left, just go through that door, and it's the first one… It was a pleasure seeing you again, but we'll have more time to talk when it's morning."

The man stood up and walked to the _shoji_ door, before turning to his daughter.

"Ringo, come."

"I-I'm coming!" She yelled gesturing for her father to wait, but with her eyes still glued to the two brothers "Just a minute!"

"We have to wake up early tomorrow." He insisted "You're going to bed now."

"I just want to spend a few more minutes awake! Please!" She pleaded, this time looking at the man with sad eyes.

"Ringo, now means now" Katsuro's tone wasn't harsh; if anything, it was rigid, but there was something in his eyes that was much more than intimidating… they seemed almost cruel.

"Fine…" The girl sighed and stood up, seeming unfazed by her father's glare.

The two walked into the corridor and closed the sliding door behind them, leaving the boys alone.

"…There's something wrong…" Izuna spoke after a minute "…with…" And then he pointed to his own eyes, grimacing.

He understood his brother's silence as an agreement, and after a few seconds smiled.

"Ringo was kinda scary back there, too." He remembered amused

"She is a girl, Izuna." Madara stated seriously "That's her job."

Probably thinking of it as a joke, Izuna looked down and started chuckling, but Madara only shook his head.

"Let's sleep too" The eldest placed his drink on the ground and changed his position, from sitting with his legs crossed, to standing and then laying on the nearest futon, and covering himself with the blanket.

"But, Mommy, I want to stay awake until midnight!" The other whined childishly.

"Shut up." He had already buried himself beneath the sheets, and the only part of him visible was a tuft of black hair.

With no more complaints, Izuna also dragged himself to his bed, and they quickly fell in a dreamless slumber.

* * *

><p>There was no water dripping from the ceiling. Madara found it odd. If the roof was made from straw, how could it be that the water didn't leak inside with the storm of yesterday? That was his first thought when he woke up, but he soon started thinking that it was even weirder that he would be philosophizing about the ceiling of some farmers' house.<p>

Since he was awake, it would be better if he got up already. He sat and looked around the room, while running his hands down his hair.

The fire in the _irori _had already turned into a pile of ashes, and through the paper of the windows and door the sunlight peered inside the house. Izuna was still sleeping soundly.

Madara stood up and walked to the exit to take a look outside. He thought about waking Izuna, just to annoy him, but decided against it, since he'd be grumpy all morning, and then he thought about going to ask something of Katsuro, but he had no idea what he could ask.

But the view wasn't exactly the field of apple trees he had expected. With a mix of curiosity and suspicion, he trotted to the cart load parked in the far left of the terrain.

In the vehicle sat an old man, with tan skin, dark grey hair covered by a straw hat and a large smile. Three other people – two of whom he recognized as his hosts – surrounded the cart and the four talked among themselves.

Katsuro was the first to notice his presence and walked up to him.

"Madara-sama" He greeted "We thought you'd wake up later…"

"What's going on?" The other indicated the commotion with a jerk of his head

"We're taking the apples to the village. I have to give them to my contractor today."

"So you'll be out all day?" Madara asked raising an eyebrow, and the farmer understood what he meant.

"Well… No, not all day, but…" He scratched the back of his head "Just a moment; I'll solve this."

The farmer walked back to where he used to be, stepped into the cart and started whispering something to the elder, who laughed and nodded in response.

Ringo, who had been listening to the two men's conversation, smiled widely and ran up to Madara, followed by the boy he didn't know.

"Hey, Madara!" The girl cried out and waved, stopping just a few steps in front of him "…We thought you'd wake up later…"

"I don't need much sleep." He didn't fail to notice that she used the same words her father did.

"Anyways, father's friend will take the apples to the village so we can show you around" She pointed back with her thumb, but her smile quickly dimmed "…Where's Izuna?"

"Still sleeping." He resisted the urge to scoff.

"Then it'd be better to wake him up." She suggested

At this point his brother should've been awake, but he was snoring, covered by warm covers, without a care in the world, as if he was on vacation. Had they been in a battle field, he would probably be dead by now. Maybe he could teach him a lesson…

"Where can I get water?"

At first Ringo seemed confused, but then a mischievous grin surged on her face.

"The water in our well is pretty cold."

"Well, that is incredibly convenient." He smirked pleased.

They shared an accessary look for a moment, before the girl skipped to the building, with the other boy following her, dutiful. Madara walked behind leisurely, not having to rush as he was the tallest of the three and would rather keep a certain distance.

The well was behind the house, and he didn't waste any time to push the big wooden lid from the opening and throw the bucket inside. He heard the boy mutter something to Ringo, but as he suspected they weren't saying anything interesting, opted for focusing on the task at hand.

Once the recipient was filled to the brim he pulled it out. As the girl said, the water was cold, even colder than he had expected.

"I…" The smaller boy opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated, seeming somewhat uncomfortable "I don't think we should do this."

The other two looked at him with mildly confused expressions.

"'We'?" Madara asked "Who ever said you were involved on this?"

"Come on, Riki, it's going to be fun!" Ringo reassured with a smile, but her furrowed brows showed that she was somewhat disappointed "It's not like he's going to punch us!" She looked up to Madara "Right?"

"No, not you at least." He answered uninterested, while turning around the house and going to the porch "I don't know about your puppy, though. He does look like some of the things Izuna likes to punch."

"Puppy?" She repeated, but as he had turned his back to them he missed her angry glare.

Madara opened the door slowly and crept inside, while the girl stopped by the entrance to take off her shoes.

"I'm not going in" Riki shook his head.

"Fine." She huffed "Then stay here."

Izuna lied in the middle of the room, sprawled across his futon, with one leg sticking out of the covers and a content smile. Seeing the peaceful expression on his brother's face, Madara almost gave up, but he managed to convince himself that his brother looked _a little too happy_, and so, feeling nothing that resembled pity, he dropped the contents of the bucket on the sleeping boy's head.

His first reaction was to open his eyes wide and almost immediately after he sat up and started coughing. Ringo hid her giggles by covering her mouth, but Madara didn't bother to suppress his laughter.

"What the hell?" Izuna asked wiping water from his visage.

"Good morning for you too." The eldest replied, smirking at his handiwork "Get up, we're leaving."

"Where to?" Izuna asked, still looking annoyed.

"We're going to show you to the river then to the shortcut to the village" Ringo joined in the conversation.

"Rin-chan, I didn't even greet you!" The boy exclaimed suddenly cheering up.

She smiled and was about to reply when something on the floor caught her attention and she frowned.

"I have to dry this. Damn…" The girl whispered and ran to another room.

"Let's get out; the sun is going to take care of your clothes." Madara stepped closer to the exit door while his brother stood up.

"You are the worst." Izuna said, but he seemed extremely displeased with that statement.

"Grow up." He retorted walking out of the room and smiling to himself.

"Grow up? You pull one of the most childish pranks ever and is I…"

The boy's speech was cut short when he noticed another one standing by the entrance. He instantly glared, just like Madara immediately disliking him. Riki looked to the side to avoid his gaze, no doubt thinking about the other's comment of how he looked like things his brother liked to punch.

"What a good boy!" Madara was the first to break the silence, leaning a little closer to Riki and talking to him as if he were a dog "She told you to wait by the door and you did!"

The boy said nothing, but looked at him with anger in his eyes.

"He'd be a terrible watchdog, though." Izuna commented catching up with his brother.

The two got down from the porch and circled the house until they reached the well. Madara covered it and placed the bucket over the lid. When they were outside though, Izuna didn't miss the vehicle parked among the trees.

"So what of that cart? And who's that guy?" He asked when they moved back to the entrance of the house. The boy wasn't there anymore.

"They're using it to take the apples to the village, and he is probably a relative of Katsuro's friend."

"What? Aren't they taking us to the river? And what friend?"

Madara sat in the edge of the porch and sighed exasperatedly.

"Why do you care? They are going to take us to the river. What happens to those damn fruits is none of our concern."

"Alright, I was just asking!" Izuna cried out defensively "Gee, why don't you tell the curious child in me to go fuck itself already?"

"Curious child in Izuna, go fuck yourself." He said without a hint of emotion in his tone.

"Yeah, that was self explanatory" His brother scoffed sitting beside him.

Less than one silent minute after, The door of the house slid open and Ringo stepped out, followed by her friend. When she noticed the two siblings sitting in the porch her eyes narrowed.

"Why did you call him a dog?" She demanded

"Hn, you told her." Madara muttered while not looking at either of them.

"Well?"

"We were just joking." Izuna flashed them a bright smile, but furrowed his brows next "Why? Did he take it seriously?"

"I…" The girl hesitated "Yes…"

"I'm sorry." He said sounding very sincere.

_Sounding_ was the key word, though. Madara never ceased to be amazed at how skilled his brother was when it came to lying. Apparently that answer was enough to convince Ringo too, since she didn't say anything else. The four stayed in silence until Katsuro surged from the trees.

"Ah, Riki." He said with a smile "Your grandfather is calling you."

The boy nodded and jumped out of the porch. Once he was down, he turned back and waved.

"Bye, Rin-chan!"

"Bye!" She yelled in return "I'll see you again soon, okay?"

After that statement Riki seemed radiant. He grinned, waved once more and ran to the cart.

"Would you like to leave now?" The farmer asked the brothers.

"There is never a better time than now." Izuna replied cheerfully and stood up.

The girl was about to get out of the balcony when Madara nudged her shin lightly.

"Hey." She looked at him with confusion in her eyes and the young man smirked.

"You forgot to give him a bone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn bullies *shakes fist* Q(= n =) Also, long chapter! :D

- An irori is a sort of fireplace. You know, those squares in the ground in traditional Japanese houses.


	6. Spiders

"For God's sake, Ringo, slow down!"

The girl didn't listen to her father's complaints and kept climbing down the river slope skillfully, jumping over stones and protuberant roots, vanishing behind a tree and then reappearing on the other side. Occasionally she'd lose her balance, but would regain it quickly. Madara and Izuna didn't have any problem keeping up with her, but Katsuro was struggling to not get left behind.

"You three go on; I'll stop here." The middle aged man said and sat down on one of the rocks in the trail, and this time, his daughter stopped and turned around.

"But, father, we are almost there!" The girl urged.

"I know, but I can't with this path." He shook his head "Rin, take them to the river. I'll go back and find you in the road."

"Where?"

"Near the statues." The girl laughed

"Fine, we'll see you there... Don't fall down on your way there, okay?"

Katsuro, who had already turned his back to them, grumbled something and made a dismissive gesture with his hand, which only made Ringo laugh louder.

Once her father had climbed up a few feet, she looked at the two brothers and smiled sheepishly.

"We're almost there. It's just behind those trees."

The three kept following the narrow path and turned to the right. Just as the girl had said, the river was behind some trees. It wasn't too large, but the water was crystal clear and the fishes could be seen swimming in the water. Judging by the sound, there should be a small waterfall nearby.

Ringo jumped from the ground to the rocks sprouting from the river.

"Let's cross to the other side." She said pointing to some stones that seemed to have been arranged as if to make a bridge.

The girl moved across the barrage slower, and occasionally she had to crawl over the rocks, laying her stomach against their irregular surfaces and gripping on the edges to keep lift herself. When she was halfway through the bridge, Madara and Izuna outpaced her… while walking on water.

"OHMYGOD, How do you do that?" It hadn't occurred to either of them that she probably didn't know about the applications of chakra.

"It's a ninja thing." The youngest replied with a faint smirk and Ringo widened her eyes.

"Wooooah!" She laughed "That's so cool…! Is it difficult to do that?"

They could see where she was going with that.

"It takes some time to learn…"

"Years." Madara added

"…so, yes… I'd say is difficult."

The girl pouted but kept worming her way across the stream.

The other shore was an even terrain and there were no slippery rocks. While Izuna started inspecting their surroundings Madara kneeled by the river bed. He formed a scoop with his hands and took some water. It looked and smelled clean, so he figured it was safe to drink. The fishes didn't seem even the slightest bothered by the sudden movement, in fact, they seemed to swim closer to his hand.

'That's just too easy…' The shinobi thought smirking, but flinched when he heard a sharp and short scream.

"Madara, come see this!" Ringo yelled excitedly.

Wondering why she'd call him instead of his brother, he turned around with a glare to see the girl running up to him and carrying something in her hands.

"Look at this!" She exclaimed getting on his level and stretching her arms.

"…It's a spider" He declared unimpressed.

"Not just any spider." She shook her head and smiled "It's a _madara-gumo_. Look, it even has spots and everything!"

Madara raised his eyebrows at the arachnid. It was of medium size, completely black if not for the yellow and red marks in its abdomen.

"A what?" Izuna approached them with a large grin, and after laying his eyes on the insect he smirked at his brother "Isn't that thing also called _juro-gumo_?"

The eldest looked up at him and sneered, but Ringo didn't seem to care about the joke.

"Yes." She nodded "They say those spiders tie their threads on people and pull them into the water to eat them. They live near rivers because of that, I think. There's a story my grandpa told me a long time ago, that when he was young there was a man who came to fish in this river, and he saw a _madara-gumo_ tying its thread to his thumb then walking away, and then he put the thread on a log and then the log got pulled into the water, and he came back to town screaming because the spider tried to eat him."

All of that was said while Ringo waved her arms around making every sort of gesture, and it was no surprise the spider wasn't in her hand anymore.

"…Do you want me to kill it?" Izuna offered.

"What? No! That's Just a story… Grandpa used to say that Atsushi's stories – Atsushi is the man who told the story, by the way…"

Madara started ignoring that conversation just as he spotted the colorful spider reappear between a patch of grass, climb down the river bank and crawl inside a hole in the earth. It couldn't have built its web so near a water source, could it? It rained just yesterday…

"Hey" Something patted his shoulder "can we go now?"

He narrowed his eyes at the girl. How did she dare talk to him as if he was making them waste time?

"Can we go now? That's a good question." He stood up and looked down on her "You tell me."

He smirked. There was that expression again. Ringo's angry face wasn't threatening at all. Her cheeks became so inflated and so red he thought that maybe there was another reason for her name.

"You'll have to forgive my brother, Rin-chan." Izuna said with a placid smile "It's a medical condition. He's got more mood swings than a woman going in the menopause."

Ringo laughed at that but Madara didn't seem very pleased.

"That's what you talk of your brother, huh?" The youngest shrugged.

"Should I be considerate? You threw a bucket of cold water on me."

Immediately he jerked his head towards the girl who was getting back on her feet.

"She told me where to get water."

"What?"Ringo yelled "It was your idea!"

"You did seem quite adept of it, though."

"Oh no, mister!" She pointed an accusing finger at him "Don't try to blame me; if you hadn't asked me I wouldn't have-!"

"Didn't you know?" He spat "The accomplice is always the guiltiest!"

A laugh interrupted their argument.

"You…" Izuna was looking down and his shoulders were shaking "You two are so childish!"

"WHAT?"

* * *

><p>That commentary earned the teenager a punch in the top of his head, which lead to a "brotherly discussion". More precisely, Madara and Izuna started yelling and throwing insults at each other, until Ringo decided they had to stop arguing. She didn't try a very subtle approach, so it was no surprise the two teamed up against her, but soon the sides started changing again. Eventually they didn't even know why they were shouting anymore, and the three decided to call a truce and kept going on their way.<p>

The brothers were used to fighting like that. In fact, they would do that from one to three times a week, but, invariably, they always made up soon after, sometimes even in the middle of an argument. Despite that, they hardly ever had other people joining them in those occasions, and never someone who they thought it wrong to use their fists as arguments.

Going from the river to the road was much easier than going to the farmers' house to the river, since the terrain was a lot more even and a lot less rocky. Not only that, the trees had more space between them and that route was shorter. Soon they went down a small slope and reached the dirt road. Ringo told them that if they went left they'd arrive at the town, but she led them to the right.

In less than three minutes three stones statues the size of a man came into view. They only noticed the real flesh-and-bones person kneeled by the images a few seconds after. By the way his hands were placed together it looked like he was praying.

A bright smile crossed Ringo's face and she ran to her father, waving and crying out for him. Katsuro opened his eyes and furrowed his brows when he noticed her.

"What took you three so long? "Despite his question, there was a joking tone in his voice "My knees are killing me!"

"Oh" the girl stopped midway and scratched her forehead "I was just… I just betted with Izuna that I could climb the _sugi_ tree faster than him... I lost, of course, but that's just because he did some ninja stuff. That's not fair, is it?"

"Well" He smiled "climbing trees is but a test of skills, and ninja techniques qualify as skills, so I'd say it's fair."

"What? Hey, why aren't you never on my side?" The man chuckled and ruffled her hair, making it even messier than it was before.

When the brothers were just a few steps away from the two, they took a better look at the statues. Even though they loomed over them, there was nothing intimidating about the sculptures. Their faces were perfectly round and bald, and they had smiling lips and eyes. Not only that, they were dressed in people's clothing, and each one of them had a bib of a different color. If they had to pick a scary thing about them, would be that they almost looked like they had the head of a baby on a grown men's body.

"You haven't been pestering them, have you?" Katsuro's question made the two brothers turn they attention back to him.

"Of course not!"

Madara disagreed, and he could even list moments when the girl bothered him, but he saw no reason to name them… and besides, his brother had run to her aid before he even got the chance.

"Oh, not at all!" Izuna chimed in "She's a great guide."

Both farmers seemed very pleased with that statement.

"Well, if you ever need to know how to get to any place in the neighborhood, don't forget we're always here to help." The elder man smiled and then turned to his daughter with a serious look "Rin, need I remind you that our friends are taking our wares to the town through this bumpy road?"

In a flash Ringo widened her eyes and fell on her knees in front of the statues. Katsuro also joined her, bowing and intertwining his hands. The shinobi just watched, uncomfortable.

Religion was not a common topic in the stronghold. They had not been raised learning about any deities, and couldn't remember a single occasion in which they had prayed. They had never given much thought to it, and they had never expected that someone in their clan (even if just two peasants) to be religious. Seeing their hosts doing that, they wondered if they expected them to do the same. Neither of the brothers was known for kneeling, Izuna only doing so if he could get something out of it, and Madara if he was physically unable to stand, and even so he'd rather sit or lay down, _thank you very much_.

"Quick, let's get out of here before they try to convert us." The eldest whispered to the other and nudged him in the ribs.

"Great; and how are we supposed to get things from them if we run away?" Izuna retorted.

"It is not _'running away'_, and I've already told you that we could steal their things, didn't I?"

"Your suggestion defies our purpose for being here."

"Yes, but I don't want to-"

"…food." The rest of Katsuro's phrase was lost, as the ninja only stopped their bickering once their heard that one word "Do you want to help me cooking the food? I think we have some meat left." Ringo nodded excitedly and started throwing suggestion for what dishes they could cook.

Meanwhile, Izuna sent his brother a questioning look, and Madara said reluctantly:

"Fine, but just a few more hours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From now on, my updates will probably be slower. Aaand this is possibly the most useless chapter, plot-wise. In chapter seven things get better, though.

Oh, and notes on the vocabulary:

A m_adara-gumo_, or _juro-gumo_ is a real spider, but it has a different name. The mythological creature has the looks of this bug, but the nasty habits of a horror movie monster, and one of the stories about this spider is pretty much like the one Ringo told. The joke is with its names. _Madara-gumo_ means 'spotted spider' and, obviously, it has Madara's name (/derp), but I find it really amusing that _juro-gumo_ means 'prostitute spider'. And, even though in stories this is the name of an evil, man-eating spider, in real life it is harmless to humans. And it has 'Madara' in it. The more you learn…

_Sugi_, also known as Japanese cedar, is a pretty vertical tree, but I saw some pictures and figured a few of them would be climbable to a ninja such as Izuna and a monkey such as Ringo.

The statues are of the _Ojizo_, who are said to be protector of children and travelers (among other things), thus the baby face, bib, placement in a road, and that's also why Rin and Katsuro prayed for them to watch over Riki and his granpa.


	7. Blood on the bluegrass

They were being followed. Surprisingly, the brothers weren't really worried about that. It was an opportunity of combat they weren't expecting, so their feeling was closer to excitement than anything else, but, even so, very little.

There were six enemies, but judging by their inability of hiding their chakras and the occasional rustling of the leaves, they couldn't be very experienced.

Before taking any measure, the brothers shared a look and activated their Sharigan. The group didn't seem to notice and kept moving with them.

'_Two ahead. One in the tree to the left, other behind a bush.'_

'_Four behind. Two in top of different trees and two on the ground.'_

"Nnnngh…" Madara lazily stretched his arms behind his back and stopped "Do you think this is a good place?"

"Yes, there is none else nearby." Izuna placed a hand on his hips and looked around.

"Good." The first smiled, but his expression had a tinge of cruelty "None will hear them scream."

Before they could say anything else, several shuriken were thrown at them from every direction. Without even a hint of surprise, the two pulled their war fans to stop the projectiles. The first enemy appeared.

That first attack was a distraction so they wouldn't notice the man who jumped over them, wielding a short sword and shouting a battle cry. By his poise they figured he was self taught, and the other five should be too.

Once their attacker charged at them, Madara quickly pulled out his own blade and stretched it, lowering it until his arm was in a casual position, but simultaneously cutting through all the length of the man's stomach, making blood spill to the side and organs fall to the ground.

Izuna let out a disgusted shiver.

"You sick…" He whispered, cringing at his now bloodied hand.

"You can thank me for saving your ass later." The oldest patted the top of his head and spun around.

Three of the enemies stared at them with horror, and their expression only deepened when they saw the look Madara was giving them.

"Well?" He questioned and charged forward, making the enemies retreat deeper into the woods.

"ENTERTAIN ME!"

Izuna would have laughed at his brother's new found enthusiasm if it wasn't for the current situation – and the fact that he was covered in human guts.

A kunai flew by him, but he noticed the explosive tag tied to it, and instead of bothering to dodge the weapon that wasn't going to hit him anyway, he formed the seal for the substitution jutsu, too fast for the other two to see.

Through the smoke the explosion caused the image of Izuna turning into a log could not be seen, so the Uchiha used that opportunity to sneak behind one of them and jam his sword inside his skull. This alerted his partner, though, as he gasped and jumped away from him.

Not missing a beat, Izuna launched forward and tried to hit him with his fan, but the boy, who didn't seem to be much older than him, blocked the blow with his dagger. The Uchiha didn't like having his weapon scratched, so he advanced and elbowed his opponent in the face, who stumbled backwards. Izuna took advantage of this distraction and used the handle of his _gunbai_ to hit the other's stomach.

The intruder tried to sever his left arm with his blade, but Izuna held him with his free hand, and when the other used his foot to kick, the boy quickly dropped the fan and moved his arm from its original position to pass it under the other's leg, pulling and making him fall on his rear.

Before he could stand up something sharp was pressed against his neck.

"Behave and you may live." Izuna wasn't fond of threats, but he figured that this way he'd have a chance to keep the man alive.

The enemy put his hands out in defeat.

"Kneel and put your hands behind your back."

Once he followed these instructions, the boy seized his arms and pulled him to his feet.

"I'll be plain" He said, and for a moment thought that those were his brother's words coming from his mouth "If I as much as think you might be trying to escape, I'll kill you."

His enemy nodded, but he seemed somewhat amused with the situation.

"You know, you can fight very well for a brat." Came the witty remark.

"Yeah, and you can't fight well at all." The ninja replied without missing a beat, which only made the men chuckle and shake his head.

Izuna dragged the hostage along as he searched for Madara, and found his sibling not too far away, fighting with one of the three men. As his opponent tried to stab him with his weapon, he held his right wrist and kicked him away, before turning to the one who was lying on the forest floor.

"Get up and fight me!" He demanded, and effortlessly dodged the shuriken the man he had kicked threw at him.

"I'm sorry about this…" Izuna whispered to the man he was holding, but the only response he got was a shiver.

His attention fell upon his brother once more.

Madara pulled his two opponents together by the back of their heads, and quickly shoved his sword inside the open mouth of one of them and pushed it forward until the tip came out from the mouth of the other.

Izuna wasn't sure if it was him, the hostage or even both, but he felt himself shaking at the sight, and his stomach did a flip. Witnessing Madara's fights was never pretty.

"Hey!" He called before the eldest could pull his blade up and slice the men's heads in half.

"What?" The other muttered gruffly.

"I..." He was about to tell about him his intention of interrogating the survivor, but he frowned when he remembered there was someone missing "Where's that other guy?"

"Dead." Madara answered nonchalantly, while letting the now dead men fall to the ground and taking a few steps forward, and stared at the one he was holding "What's that?"

"Unlike you, I thought that we should question their purpose here."

"…Question?" Madara's frown turned into a smile "Fine; that could be useful." he walked up to the prisoner and looked him in the eyes.

"Listen here; If I were you I'd be very polite and honest, because we _are_ going to get any information we want from you, one way or another." The smug smirk didn't falter even once, but the last of their enemies didn't seem very intimidated.

"Ask away."

"Ask away, _sir." _Madara corrected. It was odd to see him talking like that to a boy who seemed to be about his age and was almost as tall as him "Why are you here?"

"Stealing."

"And why _here_?" The ninja narrowed his eyes, his mood darkening "What possessed you to come to the Uchiha's land?"

"You don't take good care of your territory." He pointed out, but his lower lip quivered slightly when he saw the glare that was being shot at him "Don't take me wrong… It's true, you know. We figured that if we stole from some peasants nobody would go after us, and attacking here would be the safest place, because all the shinobi they send to this place are terrible… or so we thought."

"And you attacked us because of that?" Izuna's eyebrows rose.

"That, and because we thought we could get some weapons. Uchiha usually have good weapons…" The thief reflected.

"How long have you been here?" Madara asked.

"Two days now."

"Are you from any clan?"

"No… No, we are from some villages to north."

"Heh, fine." Madara smirked "You are neither an idiot nor a coward, so I'll let you live… if you do something for me." He gave a suspenseful pause "You'll go back to where you came from and warn all of your _peers _that, no matter what they hear about the Uchiha clan, if they ever dare to steal from us, they won't leave our land unharmed."

"I will deliveryour _message_." The boy said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Ah." The shinobi put a finger in front of his face, signalizing for him to wait "That is great to hear, but I don't expect them to believe you if they don't have any examples. Izuna, start a fire."

"A fire?" The youngest sibling asked with a frown.

"Yes, a small one."

Not questioning his brother's instruction anymore, he made the seals for a fireball jutsu and created a small bonfire.

Madara approached his brother to inspect his work, and, seeming pleased, walked back to the thief and pulled him by the hair.

"Try not to scream" He whispered "If you burn your tongue, this will have no purpose."

The eldest dragged the hostage to the fire and kneeled down, forcing him to do the same.

"Now breathe and hold it." That was his last advice before shoving the man's head into the blazes.

The intruder seemed to be trying his best to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't hold back for too long and his low whimpers turned into anguished screams.

Izuna had no idea how his brother measured such a thing, but Madara finally seemed satisfied with the time he held the boy's head into the bonfire and jerked him backwards, revealing a face that half tanned and attractive and half bright red and deformed, melted by the flames.

The shinobi tossed the other away and frowned when he looked at his hand. It had gotten burned too, but in a smaller degree. That could be the opportunity to practice medical ninjutsu he had been waiting for, though.

Dismissing his injury and the young man laying in the ground, the eldest started walking away.

"You know, terrorism outside of the war time has been considered a crime by the clan since… Twenty two years ago? Something like that…" Izuna commented when he catch up with him.

"Why, are you going to tell?" Madara raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. I just think that that was brutal."

"Anything for the clan." He muttered "Someone has to watch over our name… Do you see what I meant the other day?" The youngest nodded but remained silent "Anyways, let's go to Katsuro's to wash this thing off of us."

"Are you mental?" This time he reacted, and a little more fiercely than his brother would have expected "Do you want us to show up at some civilian's home while covered in blood?"

Madara frowned. He hadn't thought about that.

"You're right. We'll bathe in the river first, then."

That morning they had decided to go exploring, and took a small track that led them to northwest, but since they had walked only a few miles, they couldn't be very far from the river.

"Let's speed up." The eldest said and jumped on a tree branch "It's almost noon."

The other rolled his eyes. And to think that just a few days ago his brother didn't have any regards about stealing from the farmers…

It had been more than two weeks since they met Katsuro and Ringo, and while at first they were somewhat cautious and uncomfortable with all the attention and respect they were given (for, despite being some of the greatest ninja in the clan and considered prodigies, neither of them received any attention or respect), soon they became used to the family, and they found themselves willingly talking to the two about things they wouldn't tell strangers.

They had thrown all their worries about the clan on Katsuro, who seemed to know a lot more about politics and economy than they'd have expected a man in his position to do, and every time they'd express uncertainty about the future, the peasant would reassure them with an optimistic speech.

Ringo, while ignorant in those subjects, turned out to be very entertaining. Izuna seemed to enjoy her stories, either about herself, her family and real people of her village, or tales of ghosts and mythical creatures, and how she liked to listen to everything he had to say in return. Madara was surprised to find that they shared a likeness for carnivorous animals, and he enjoyed the argument he had with her about the story of the Rikkudou Sennin a little more than he'd admit.

That, summed up with the food and shelter they received, was enough for them to decide that the peasants were now part of the circle of people they liked. It wasn't as if they would go to the farmers' house every day, but spending time away from them had become increasingly harder (especially after Ringo managed to find their camp back in the woods).

"I think we shouldn't tell them what happened." Izuna said once they got to the river.

"Why?" Madara asked, even though he didn't seem curious. He sat down under a tree and started evaluating the damage that was dealt to his hand. It was very superficial, so if he used enough chakra he'd be able to heal it quickly.

"Because" He paused to take off his bag and shirt "they could get worked up over it. If they tell everyone in the village that thieves were spotted nearby, there's no guaranty of what could happen… Besides, don't you think it'd make a great conversation starter? 'Oh, hello! How are we? Oh, fine, Just fine... We just murdered five non-ninja and mutilated the sixth one so he could warn everyone not to mess with the clan and spread the horror... How about you?' Not awkward at all."

"Just so you know" The eldest said in a monotone "I've never said that I wanted to tell them that."

Izuna shrugged and got into the river, bringing his stained clothes with him. Blood was always difficult to clean…

* * *

><p>"Hey, where have you been all day?" Ringo 'greeted' the two when they showed up in the porch.<p>

"Exploring." Izuna answered after some thought, and the girl's frown turned into a smile, as she pulled herself away from the window and vanished into the house.

Once they opened the door the man inside lowered the book he was reading.

"Hello." Katsuro smiled "We weren't expecting you to pass by today . Did you have lunch yet?"

"To be honest, no." The youngest replied.

"Oh, I'll get the table ready, then."

Going to the farmers' house to get food had become a habit of theirs, and since Katsuro had never appeared to be bothered by that they didn't feel guilty.

As soon as her father had vanished behind a door, Ringo strode to the shinobi with her hands behind her back.

"You said you were exploring…" She commented innocently "…Did you find anything interesting?"

There was a pause.

"No, not really…"

"Unless trees count…"

"Ah…" The girl pouted "…At least big trees?"

"No, they were normal sized." Izuna shook his head.

"Really? But-"

"Ringo, I could use some help!" A voice came from the kitchen , making she stop and sigh deeply.

Once the peasant was out of sight, Madara turned to his brother.

"You were right. If we told them what happened, she'd never shut up again."

"There's still so much left for you to learn…" Izuna smirked and patted his back. He had this suspicion that his sibling wouldn't like that gesture very much, so he wasn't surprised when the back of his head was slapped and he almost fell on his face.

* * *

><p>The lunch went by without any casualties. Katsuro had left the house carrying his book and didn't try to start any small talk with them. Ringo also didn't disturb their meal, choosing instead to pace around the house, occasionally stopping to clean something that didn't need any cleaning. The brothers found that uncharacteristic of their hosts, but didn't comment on it. They never got silence in that house, and the only quiet moments were when the two were hiding in the woods, eating things they found.<p>

All that peace got old after a while, though. Their encounter with the group of thieves made them realize how much they missed fighting. Izuna, who never considered himself as a violent person, was surprised to discover he missed battling. That "fight" (if it could even be called that) made Madara's anger of being tricked resurface. That was the first time in the mission they felt such a strong carving for a real battle.

But… There was none they could fight. Sure, they could always spar, but that didn't qualify as a real fight. On the other hand, there was none in that place that was on their level, so not only trying to pick a fight with a villager or one of the two ninja would be cowardice, it would be highly boring.

"I need to blow off some steam…" all those thoughts had remained unspoken until the point the oldest brother uttered these words.

"I know…" Izuna sighed, getting away from the table "Come on; staying indoors will only make things worse."

Madara had to agree, so he followed his sibling out of the house. Outside, Katsuro was sitting in the porch, his eyes glued to the pages of the book as if they belonged to one another, and Ringo was sweeping the same spot in the floor, absently minded. She briefly looked up when they approached, but said nothing.

Being outdoors did help a little, but the boredom and the pent up frustration proved to be too strong; they still really wanted to punch something.

After a few seconds of their enticing 'staring-into-nothingness' contest, a voice (that at that moment sounded much more angelic than it actually was) resounded.

"Hey, Izuna, wanna climb some trees?" Ringo asked, looking up from the shiny floor below her.

"Sure!" The boy replied standing up, happy for having something to do. The two teenagers jumped off the porch and ran to the trees of the orchard, discussing about something.

Madara frowned. They didn't invite him. Not that he'd want to go tree climbing anyways, but that would've been the polite thing to do.

For a few moments he watched as the two climbed separate trees. Though Izuna wasn't using chakra, he still got to the top with time to spare. When Ringo got to the last branch she started hurling insults at his brother, one of which he understood as 'cheater'. The youngest boy just laughed them off.

Finally deciding he was tired of being left out, Madara stood up and marched to the tree his brother was. Since Izuna was climbing down, he had his back turned to him, so the eldest brother quickly grabbed him by the waist, detached him from the bark and threw him to the ground. He could have sworn Ringo gasped.

His brother rolled onto the floor, and instantly sat up once he stopped.

"What was that for?" He questioned narrowing his eyes.

"I'm bored." Madara shrugged "Stand up, we're fighting."

"Yeah, and who said I wanted to fight?" Despite his response, Izuna got back on his feet.

"You'd better start wanting to, because otherwise I'll beat the snot out of you." And with that, he was in front of his sibling, aiming a punch at his face.

Izuna blocked the fist with his forearm and jumped back, just to propel himself and attack his brother.

"I usually fight better when I'm angry, you know." Izuna commented while taking an offensive stance.

"And I suppose I should be terri-" Madara never did get to finish that sentence. He was too busy dodging the other's kick to avoid the hook that hit him in the face with enough intensity to make him stumble sideways.

"Heh." He smirked, straightening his posture and wiping his mouth "Now we're talking."

In the blink of an eye, Madara was standing in front of his brother and kneed him in the stomach.

And that was how an innocent game of climbing trees turned into a heated battle… or at least so in Ringo's eyes. She sat in the highest branch of an apple tree, clutching her legs and watching the scene below her in wonder. She and Michio used to play like that, but, compared to Madara's and Izuna's sparring, they weren't even trying. They looked like they were having fun…

The youngest ninja cornered his opponent against a tree bark, but somehow Madara managed to sneak under his arms before he could attack. Izuna turned around to punch his brother, whom he was sure was about to try and give him a noogie or something, but he was surprised with what he found standing behind him.

Ringo squeaked and fell on her rear to avoid being hit.

"Wha-?" The boy frowned, but then his eyes widened and he crouched down "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Uh…" The girl seemed confused about which question she should answer "I'm fine…"

He shook his head and stood up, offering his hand for the peasant, but she declined and got back on her feet on her own.

Once she was back up and seemed fine, Izuna sent a glare to his brother, who was standing a few feet away from them.

"Did you put her here?"

"Do you think I'd use a _girl_ as shield?"

"No, he didn't do anything." Ringo shook her head "Is just that I… I wanted to ask something…"

And she began rocking back and forth in her heels, but without saying a word, almost as if she was too shy to ask that particular question.

"I…" She looked away from them and started fidgeting with her fingers "I wanted to ask… If… If I… If I could… you know? Join in…?"

They fell in a deep silence until Madara snorted.

"What, are you deaf, blind and suicidal?"

Ringo frowned and turned around.

"I used to do that with my brother all the time!" She countered.

"We might be a little out of your league." He mocked in reply.

"You said you were bored and, because of you, now _I_ am!"

"Then deal with it!"

With each sentence the two stepped closer to the other, and they were now close enough to make their verbal argument become a physical one (the fact that the two had their fists clenched and seemed to be about to pounce on the other didn't help at all). Izuna sighed in annoyance, knowing that he – as the closest thing of a responsible adult among the three – would have to interfere.

"Alright, no catfights!" The shinobi put himself in between the two "Madara, you never said you wanted to fight, just that you were bored. I don't see how 'every man for himself' wouldn't be entertaining."

"And I don't see how this would qualify as 'every man for himself'" He retorted annoyed while gesturing to Ringo "And besides, if I can't fight with someone of my level it's not entertaining."

"Just give it a shot."

Madara frowned. It didn't seem fair that a girl was getting between him and Izuna. He was his little brother after all; he had rights over him.

"Fine" He huffed, uncrossing his arms and Izuna smiled.

"See, it wasn't that hard." His only answer was a scowl.

"Oh, alright!" Ringo exclaimed excitedly and skipped closer to the brothers "How do we start?"

"You don't know?" Madara faked surprise, while advancing a few steps "Let me show you the usual procedure…"

The girl's expression went from confused to shocked when she was suddenly picked up by her waist and tossed over the oldest boy's shoulder. She yelled and tried to kick him, but when he started spinning her protests turned into giggles.

Such an odd scene… Izuna found it weird that his brother, who had been so reluctant about including Ringo in their game, was now playing with her. A passerby could very well assume that the two were the siblings. That behavior was so unlike Madara…

But the boy understood what he was doing, when he took the girl off his shoulders and tossed her to the ground, making her scream before hitting the earth with a grunt and rolling. Unbeknownst to them, Katsuro had lowered his book and was now watching the three.

"Madara!" Izuna yelled "What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't throw her too far." The other shrugged "And it was she who asked to join."

"Do you really have to be such a dick?" Madara narrowed his eyes.

"That's a little thing we call 'real life'. Why don't you-" He was interrupted by a pained moan and both turned to the girl lying in the ground.

Ringo quivered, but when she turned around, her face was split by a large grin.

"That was fun…" She whispered with a dreamy look.

Madara looked at his brother from the corner of his eyes and smirked.

"You were saying?"

"So you expect me to believe you didn't want to hurt her to make her leave us alone?" Izuna raised an eyebrow.

"Now, you shouldn't make such assumptions." The other retorted, the smug smile not faltering even once "What makes you think I wanted to hurt her?"

"You." He answered plainly, which only made Madara's grin grow.

The younger of the two flicked his eyes to focus on something behind his brother's head, but Madara didn't need the hint. He turned his body ever so slightly and put his arms up to stop the fist that was aimed at him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have the stealth of an angry bull?" He commented and Ringo frowned in anger. She tried to kick him in the ribs, but with just one foot to give her support, it would be really easy to take her down.

And now the girl didn't even know how she ended up on the floor again. She sat up observe the two brothers fighting and look for an opening, but there were none. She hugged her knees against her chest and pouted, upset for being kicked out so soon.

Izuna quickly noticed that and held his brother's fists when he attempted to hit him.

"This isn't working." He shook his head and took a step back.

"Then you both can come at me." Madara replied, seeming in good spirits.

"Are you sure?" The other asked with a smile.

"Yeah, why not?" He shrugged "It's not like it's going to boost your chances anyway."

Ringo instantly shot up and ran to Izuna.

"Mine will." She smiled, and the boy leaned closer to whisper something to her.

Considering the girl's skills, she could not win, even if she joined Izuna. It was even more likely she'd be a nuisance to him, having such low fighting skills. It didn't matter what his brother was planning; the advantage was clearly on his side.

After the two stopped with their hushed conversation, Ringo nodded and ran towards their opponent with her right arm raised, as if to hit him.

Madara effortlessly grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her aside, just in time to block his brother's punch.

"So that was your master plan?" He mocked, but his relaxed expression became tenser when Izuna's attacks increased in violence. Though he could block them, their intensity was enough to push him back, and only when he started responding with equal force was that he managed to hold back the other.

Not long into their fight, Izuna pushed him in the chest. He would have simply stumbled backwards if it wasn't for a small hindrance: the girl behind him, curled into a ball. As consequence, he lost his balance and fell on his back.

Ringo crawled from under Madara's leg and stood up whilst shooting her hands to the air and grinning.

"That was perfect!" Izuna praised with a smile, and the girl giggled in return. They didn't have a lot of time to enjoy their victory as something grabbed their ankles and pulled them to the ground. Even when they fell, both were still laughing.

Madara smirked and put his hand on his brother's face, silencing him. The boy mumbled something inaudible and tried to take off the gag. On the other side, Ringo giggled and pulled Madara's arm to help Izuna. Annoyed with the intromission, the young man frowned and elbowed her right in the stomach with his free arm. He had used a little more strength than he had intended to, but she let go off him with no protests.

The two boys struggled a little more, until Izuna licked his brother's hand, making him retreat.

"Izuna, you pig!" Madara yelled.

"Be glad I didn't bite it off." The other replied.

They were about to continue with their bickering, but a small whimpering sound quieted them down, and both turned around. Ringo was shaking lightly, clutching her stomach and looking down.

"Rin?" Izuna sat up "Are you hurt?"

The girl shook her head vehemently, but she couldn't hold back a sob, and after the first one escaped her lips the other followed. The younger ninja briefly narrowed his eyes before punching his brother's shoulder.

Madara was about to glare at him when he noticed that Katsuro was walking up to them, wearing a deep frown.

"Shit" He breathed out and sat up as well "Oi" He looked down at Ringo and clutched her shoulder, but she didn't respond. If anything, his gesture just increased her volume.

"Rin" The farmer called, now dangerously close.

"Can you sat up?" Izuna urged while moving closer to her

"What happened?" Katsuro reached them and looked at the girl. Upon hearing her father's voice so close, she looked up, eyes wet and face red, all contorted in an expression of pain. A flash of the same emotion appeared in the man's eyes before the kneeled down and passed a hand under the girl's armpit.

"We were playing..." Izuna answered in a shameful tone "My brother doesn't know his own strength…"

"Watch out, boy." Katsuro shook his head, and there was a mocking, almost hostile undertone when he spoke, glancing at Madara for a moment.

"You watch out." Came the reply, in an ice cold tone.

It weren't the words the farmer had used that made Madara feel like he was being threatened; it was the demeanor. He felt attacked, belittled… everything he was used to feel when with the shinobi of the highest ranks in the clan, everything he hated to feel.

The peasant looked up, agape. His face seemed surprised and angry, but most of all, impotent. Madara sustained the stare, testing to see if the man would do anything against him. The air felt heavy for a couple of seconds, before Katsuro closed his mouth and looked down at his daughter, silently.

"Ringo, get up" He instructed and pulled her up the best he could.

Unsurely, Izuna approached and lifted the girl up. She tried to arrange her position, while still crying, albeit quieter now.

He stood up and started carrying Ringo to the house, with Katsuro following him closely.

Madara was left behind, sitting in the ground. Out of boredom he started plucking the grass, and remained doing that until he noticed his brother was getting back, storming.

"Go apologize." He ordered with a glare "Now." The other just looked at him with a mocking frown.

"For what?"

"Hurting Ringo, being an asshole to Katsuro, existing… I don't know; you pick one."

"I am _not_ apologizing" Madara replied in a more serious voice.

"Oh, yes, you _are_." Izuna insisted "Unless you want us to lose our only allies in this place."

"They are farmers! What could we possibly get from them?"

"Madara, I mean it!" The boy almost yelled, but his brother only snorted in return.

"Come on, let's get back to the camp."

Izuna sent him one last glare and turned around sharply, marching to the woods.

The older ninja rolled his eyes and stood up, following his rather angry sibling.

* * *

><p>The sun was setting in the horizon, bathing the entire valley below in a rich orange. The rivers gleamed intensely, the fields were colored of gold, the rocks on the slope cast monumental shadows on the land below, and the forest leaves rustled a calming melody.<p>

That would have been a perfect, peaceful moment, if it wasn't for the tension that pervaded the air. Izuna hadn't spoken a word to his brother ever since they abandoned the orchard, and Madara had become immensely annoyed about being ignored.

"Alright; I give." The eldest brother shot his hands to the sky and stood up from his favorite log "I'll _apologize_, since that's what you want so much."

Izuna turned his head slightly to look at the other from the corner of his eyes, but said nothing. Madara growled, picked up his things and sullenly took the route back to the farm, mumbling curses all the way there.

Apologize! It made no sense whatsoever: Ringo had wanted to "play" with them, and she should have been aware that she could get hurt. Katsuro had no rights to speak to him like he did. If it wasn't for Izuna he wouldn't be there, staring at the house in the middle of apple trees, not at all ready to swallow his pride.

Madara approached the house, but he didn't knock on the door, or even barged in like he was used to. He circled the building before finding an open window where he could see light coming from, and poked his head inside.

In the middle of the room, Ringo lied in her futon, grinning at a book she was reading.

"Hey." He called unceremoniously, and she nearly jumped in surprise. With a bored tone, poked a little fun at her "'Boo', by the way."

"Hi…" She whispered and looked down, sounding a lot shyer than Madara ever thought she could.

"How are you?" He asked, trying to avoid apologizing openly.

"Fine now." She replied with a curious expression, probably wondering why he in particular came to her window in the end of the afternoon to ask how she was feeling.

"Hn"

Without warning, the girl started to giggle.

"What's so funny?" Madara asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Izuna wanted you to apologize, didn't he?" The boy raised his eyebrow, but made a positive gesture with his head "You can tell him you apologized, then. I will confirm if he asks me. I can even say you begged on your knees if you want!"

"If you did that he'd never stop making fun of me." He commented with slight amusement, placing his elbow on the window sill and resting his face on his palm.

"Yeah, but I would like if I had the permission to say that you actually got on your knees and begged for apology." She smiled mischievously.

"Pity, I would never give you such permission." Ringo giggled once more.

Strangely, Madara was glad he had come. Izuna would stop ignoring him for one, and he ended up liking that small chat he had with the girl. The only time they had spoken to each other without anyone nearby was on the first day they meet, and the conversation hadn't been all that great.

"I can talk to father too." Ringo added with a shrug "He isn't angry anymore or anything; but I guess you wouldn't want to apologize to him either so I can solve it."

He grunted a small affirmative, and the two just stared at other for a few seconds, before the girl stood up and walked to the window, also propping herself on the sill.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked, staring at the landscape with dreamy eyes.

Though Madara saw nothing more that trees painted with orange, he didn't dispute her statement.

"You should see the view we have from the camp."

"Oh, I know." She replied "Michio and I used to go there all the time to watch the sun set – sometimes even the sun rise, if I woke up early enough… Hey, Madara, you're a ninja, right?"

The older boy looked at her with a blank expression before replying:

"No, of course not! I'm a daimyo! Where'd you get the impression that I'm a ninja?"

She rolled her eyes, smiled and pushed his shoulder lightly.

"I meant to say, that if you are a ninja, you must have traveled a lot, thus you must know a lot of beautiful places, don't you?" He nodded "So, what's the most beautiful place you have been to?"

"Sei-an." He concluded after some though, and the girl looked at him with confusion in her eyes "It's a coastal village to the south of our territory."

"Yeah? And what's beautiful about it?" Madara eyed her with suspicion before continuing.

"The sea, in particular. The caverns too… And sometimes the inhabitants light sky lanterns, and if you can get a good spot in a roof you can watch them reflected in the water…"

"It really does sound beautiful…" She sighed dreamily "Is it too far away?"

"A few days worth of travel."

"Do… Do you think I could ever go there?" Ringo asked with a small voice

"If you're willing to walk there, I don't see why not." He replied uninterestedly

The large, bright smile that covered the whole lower part of the girl's round face wasn't the answer Madara was thinking he'd get.

"Hey, and what's the farthest place you've ever been to?"

He sighed. Why did he encourage her anyways?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I apologize if Madara was ooc in this one, because I think I've slipped with his personality a little more than I should… But, on the bright side, this chapter is over than ten pages long – and you better enjoy it!

And finally I get to write about Madara doing one of the things he does that I like the most – hurting people! Fluff-ish in the end because I felt it was about time I remembered this story is supposed to have some romance in it.

Also, Gumbai is the war fan.


	8. The bright side

The talk had lasted all morning, yet they couldn't get to an agreement with themselves, let alone one another. Izuna was staring at the valley with arms crossed, thinking of what he could settle with his brother. Madara on the other hand had long given up on looking for common ground, and decided that he'd deal with things his way.

The youngest ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"Alright, but you do have to…" The boy silenced when he turned around to face his brother, who was resting his back against a tree, while running his hands up and down his cheeks with a thoughtful look"…what are you doing?"

"I need to shave…" Madara answered with a frown.

"Shave? I don't see how…" Izuna walked to him, furrowing his brow and lowering his head "You're being paranoid; there's nothing there."

"There is." He insisted

"No, there isn't!" The boy laughed pointing at him "Face it, man; your face is as smooth as a baby's butt!"

Madara was about to reply when he noticed a familiar chakra approaching. By the way the energy bursts waved, he presumed the person was skipping to their camp, which was what gave the intruder away.

Seconds after, Ringo emerged from a bush.

"Hello." She greeted, taking a leaf out of her hair "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing much." Izuna shrugged "Madara has a psychological beard."

"A what?"

"Nothing." The other murmured, a hand still covering his visage "What are you here for?"

"Gee, you're so polite!" Izuna commented sarcastic ally "Can't she just pass by to say 'hi'?"

"Actually, I did come here for a reason" The girl replied, but said no more as she sat down in one of the tree logs (_His_ favorite log, Madara thought bitterly) and started fixing her braid, which looked a bit too complex to be wore in a daily-basis.

"Spit it out." The taller shinobi hurried, shifting from his position.

Ringo smiled smugly, before clearing her throat and finally starting to speak.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you, but father said you'd be interested. So, just earlier today we went to the village to buy a few stuff and visit one of his friends – he wasn't home, so we are going back this afternoon…"

"And where does the story gets good?" Madara interrupted "Oh, I know: when it ends."

She sent him her best glare, but kept relating the events of the day.

"As I was saying… We went down to the village for… personal reasons… and, well, we found out there's someone visiting us. Guess who?"

"That weird old man that has one eye smaller than the other and seems to live in the stable?" Izuna suggested hopefully.

"What are you even…?" The eldest didn't get to finish his question, as he opted for shaking his head instead.

"She told me to guess, and I'm guessing!"

"Okay, you guessed wrong; I don't even know who that is" Madara chuckled at the girl's tone and his brother's disappointed expression "So, we were just heading back when we saw a bunch of shinobi in the middle of the street…"

"Takehiko." He concluded, immediately standing up, his expression hardening.

"Uh, yeah." Ringo nodded confusedly "How did you guess?"

"Madara, what are you doing?" Izuna carefully watched his brother collect his belongings.

"Just getting ready to kindly welcome him to the land of 'Nothing to do at all'" The young men gestured to the forest around him, and for a moment his face was humorous, before transfiguring back into stone.

"Nothing to do…?" The girl murmured, looking from him to her hands and knees with a frown.

"Just don't do something stupid." Izuna warned, getting up as well.

"I won't." Madara reassured seriously "Let's go."

The youngest boy grabbed his bag and strode to his sibling, sighing.

"Look, if you make a mess I'm not cleaning up after you."

"I said I won't do anything stupid." The other's face split in a crooked smile "Trust me, will you?" Izuna shook his head

"One of these days I'm going to end up dead, I swear…"

"Well, if you do I won't be the one to blame." Madara's grin only widened as he tapped his brother shoulder.

They were about to leave when he remembered of the girl who was still sitting on the clearing, staring at her hands. Ever since that _incident_ a few days ago he had been making an effort to behave differently with Katsuro and Ringo, but especially with her. He tried to show less annoyance, exclude her less in his and Izuna's matters, tone down his insults and he also became more aware of what he did with his elbows whenever she was around.

"Hey" He called, and the girl turned around curiously "Thank you."

It was unlike Madara to acknowledge people's kindness. He didn't see the point on thanking when someone willingly did things for him, as he always thought that unrequired help either meant not expecting a 'thank you' in return or expecting something more. As he never asked for help, he never saw the point on thanking people. But, right there, something compelled him to thank the girl, as if he had asked her to go through the trouble of going to their campsite and tell them about Takehiko. He couldn't say he wasn't expecting anything by saying that. He expected Ringo to smile – which she did – but he'd never have expected Izuna screeching and throwing himself on the ground, covering his head.

"What's wrong with you today?" He asked, looking down at his brother with a frown "And every other day."

"…Y-you just said 'thank you'… I'll get up once the apocalypse is over."

After that statement, the girl started roaring with laughter and Madara looked from one teenager to another, flustered. Though he had been trying to treat Ringo less like an annoying little girl who liked to follow them around, she and Izuna still insisted on teaming up against him when he last expected.

Hissing, he grabbed his brother by his collar and pulled him to this feet.

"Funny." He replied with a twitchy fake smile "And while you lay there and wait for death I'll go and make myself useful. What do you say?"

He spat the last phrase with anger, but Izuna didn't stop laughing.

Madara let go of him, and turned to glare at the girl, who didn't notice the look he was sending her and just kept laughing hysterically.

Sneering, he spun on his heels and started marching away, followed by his sibling.

"You're so angry out of nowhere ~" Izuna commented cheerfully.

"You two have an uncanny ability to anger me." He huffed.

"We were just having a little fun!"

"You mean _poking_ a little fun. Of me."

"Now, don't be so bitter!" Izuna drawled "You know what I think you need? I think you need a hug!" And saying that, he grabbed his brother's arm and grinned, tugging him down.

"Alright, where is it?" Madara asked, pushing the other away.

"Where is what?"

"The booze. You have to be drunk. Now say where you found it; I want some." Izuna started to laugh and shake his head.

"I'm just happy today!" He exclaimed "Can't I be happy?"

"No." The eldest punched him in the shoulder with a smirk "You can't be happy unless I tell you to."

Izuna chuckled but said no more, and the two just kept walking in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"What are you going to do?" The youngest suddenly asked "When we find Takehiko, I mean."

"I don't know. I'll decide when we get there." The other snorted.

"Yeah, I can already see it. You're gonna make a fuss, everything will go downhill, and then someone will die. Hopefully not me." Madara raised an eyebrow "Hopefully not you either, but mostly me."

"None's going to die" He rolled his eyes "At least not today."

"And I trust you because…?"

"Tsc, shut up."

"Alright, alright…" Izuna shrugged, before muttering something under his breath "…beard man"

The tree behind where Izuna had previously been was hit by something heavy and earned a deep crack going from crown to root.

"Liar!" Izuna yelled, trying to muffle his laughter "You said none was going to die today, and now look at it! You just killed that poor tree!"

"You really are happy today, huh?" Madara mused out loud, while inspecting the fist he had just used to smash the tree "Maybe I'll need to fix that…"

"Why, brother, can't you take a joke?" The boy laughed and waved his hands, but his cheerfulness vanished as soon as a branch of a nearby tree was torn from its place and sent flying away "I was just kidding!"

Silently, the older shinobi picked up another stone and eyed his brother, tossing the projectile up and catching it, before he threw the lump at the other's forehead, who dodged just in time.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Izuna demanded incredulously.

Madara said nothing, but he picked up a third rock and his smirk only grew, making Izuna flinch and curse under his breath.

They arrived at the village running.

* * *

><p>"That was interesting." Madara commented, walking up to his brother, who had already went through the town's gate.<p>

"You monster." Izuna muttered hoarsely "I can't believe you threw all that stuff at me."

"I knew you would dodge them." He shrugged

"Your confidence is going to get me killed."

Madara would have replied if it wasn't for the scene not too far into the village. A group of shinobi formed a circle in front of the largest building in the street. While it couldn't be classified as "a bunch", they certainly were in a large enough number to serve as escort.

The immediate conclusion the brothers drew was that Takehiko was in the premise, and so they started walking towards the entrance, but their path suddenly was blocked by a tall man with shaggy hair.

"Oh, so here's where you two have been" The ninja asked with a smug grin "After that mess in the Water Country I really expected you to be sent to an awful place as punishment, but that…"

And he snickered.

"Hmm…" Madara started, cocking an eyebrow "…Who are you again?"

The man's smile diminished gradually, and he didn't move a single muscle as the two boys passed by him.

"Almost everyone hates us, you know. And it's your entire fault!" Izuna commented once they started climbing the flight of stairs. Despite his words, he had a smile on his face. Yet, no matter how obvious it was that he was kidding, the Madara took these words very seriously.

It was somewhat true. They weren't exactly popular, especially among the high ranking shinobi – which was probably why they never got any sort of promotion or good commission. Sometimes Madara wondered if it was all because of how disrespectful he was, and if Izuna would do better if it wasn't for him.

Brushing off these thoughts, he followed his brother into the building. The interior looked smaller, the walls and floor were made of dark wood and some furniture was scattered across the room. As there were no windows, they had to squint their eyes to see properly. The place would be devoid of anyone beside them if it wasn't for a young girl carrying a heavy looking tray.

"Oi" The older sibling called and she let out a small squeak, moving her head from behind a big flower pot to see who it was "Is Takehiko here?"

The girl looked away, apparently deciding she shouldn't answer them.

"The leader of our clan." Izuna continued in a gentler tone "We really must talk to him. Do you know where he is?"

She sent him a brief glance, but then meekly looked at her feet.

"We promise we won't get you in trouble." The servant opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out.

"Or you could risk getting in trouble by ignoring us." Madara shrugged "It's up to you, really."

The girl turned to them, with a mix of worry and annoyance in her face.

"I… He went in that direction" She indicated a corridor to the left with a tilt of her head "I don't know exactly where, but in a few minutes he must be having tea with Atsushi-sama. You… you're not going to say I told you, will you?"

"Don't worry." Izuna shook his head and smiled "Thank you."

The girl nodded awkwardly, and hid her face behind the flowers again, while the boys went in the direction she had shown in a fast pace.

"Who the hell is Atsushi?" Izuna asked when he was sure the girl wouldn't listen.

"How am I supposed to know?"

They continued walking down the hallway, until they reached a shoji door, the only passage in the corridor, and just like they were used to, tore the door open without knocking first.

The room had windows, so it was lighter than the hall, but the brothers still narrowed their eyes at what their saw. Two men, each sitting on a large pillow, talking to each other. Or rather, one talking enthusiastically and the other listening carefully.

When Izuna and Madara entered the room the two turned around, the first one seeming surprised at first, but then smiling, and the second only eyed them blankly.

"Ah!" The smiling man exclaimed, rising to his feet "So there you are! Such a long time no see, no?"

"Madara-san, Izuna-san" The serious man greeted, bowing his head ever so slightly

"Hello, Takehiko-sama, Yori-san" Izuna smiled and bowed in response.

"Cut the crap." Madara rudely blurted out, crossing his arms. "We are not here on a visit."

"But is that truly a reason to drop all the pleasantries?" Takehiko asked with a growing grin, and the boy's eyes only narrowed more "Fine then. Let's get down to business. What is it that you want?"

"Stop playing dumb" He hissed "You know very well why we're here."

"Frankly, I don't"

"I want to know what your brilliant idea was when you sent us to _this place_."

"I sent you here?" The leader tilted his head "No, I believe I only gave a suggestion. It was your choice, and only yours, Madara."

"You only suggested it" His voice rose and he took a threatening step forward "because you knew I would accept it!"

"Absolutely not" Takehiko shook his head "I was even surprised when you said you wanted to come here!"

"No you weren't!" At this point Madara was already shouting "You knew I'd think you were talking about the Genji's land!"

"Ah ah" The man shook his forefinger in front of his nose "They're not the Genji's land. They're ours."

"IT'S ALL THE FUCKING SAME!" He seemed to be about to jump on Takehiko until Izuna held on of his arms and pulled him back.

"What are you doing?" the boy hissed and glared at him.

"Hn." Takehiko's face suddenly became serious "If that's really all, I'm afraid I can't help you. Hasn't most of the shift ended? Anyway, now it's far too late to change anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting in a few minutes and I'd appreciate to be left alone with my assessor."

"Wait!" He barked "There's one more thing I need to ask you."

"Make it quick." Takehiko instructed with a brief motion of his hand.

"Do you know anyone named Michio?" The clan's leader furrowed his brows before replying.

"No, I can't remember anyone that goes by this name."

"Actually, Takehiko-sama, if I can interrupt." Yori cleared his throat "If I do remember correctly, there was someone by the name Michio in the list of aspiring soldiers to the army. And he came from this village, sir"

"Is that so? What was done of this Michio, prey tell me?"

"He was sent to the Land of Earth about five months ago."

"Aaaand now that his is settled you two can leave." Tekehiko replied cheerfully

But Madara didn't move. He felt his fingers closing in a fist his face contorting into a snarl and his shoulders starting to shake, all without his command. He wanted to get out of there and avoid trouble, he really did, but something also urged him to attack the man in front of him – and maybe he would have, if it wasn't for his brother dragging him to the sliding door.

"You said you wouldn't make a mess!" Izuna whispered, closing the passage behind him.

"Care to point out what mess did I make?" He growled in return. Though his brother had lowered his tone so the men in the room wouldn't listen, he didn't particularly care if he was heard or not.

"It looked like you were about to rip his head off!" The boy answered, pulling him away from the door and back to the main hall hastily.

"Am I wrong for wanting to do exactly that?" He muttered and Izuna shook his head.

"You know we can't do anything right here and right now." He sighed "I knew that coming here would only make you angry."

"Yeah" Madara let out a dry laugh "It really was a useless trip."

"Well" Izuna shrugged "Look on the bright side. At least Takehiko already knows we're pissed. And we now know about Michio."

"Yes, but he must be dead by now." The eldest leaned against a wall and closed his eyes, waiting for his breathing to become steady again.

"… But something good could come out of it." Izuna pondered

"Like what?"

"Remember when I said we needed to ask around…?"

"Ah" Madara's eyes snapped open and his mouth split into a grin "What's your plan exactly?"

"We could split up. I'll go see if I can talk to the soldiers and you can keep an eye on Takehiko."

"How about the meeting point?"

"When we finish we can go back to the campsite and we say what we found out."

"Sounds good" He nodded "Don't take too long." Izuna rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you neither."

And with that he opened the heavy exit door and stepped into the daylight. After he left, the room was once again surrounded by darkness.

Madara walked around the room, expecting the sparse furniture, until he heard faint sound of steps approaching. Quickly scanning the room for a place to hide, he spotted a big vase in the darkest corner. He skidded behind it and crouched down, simultaneously focusing to hide his chakra. Takehiko and Yori were both ninja, rusty as they might be.

He poked his head from behind the pot just enough to be able to see three man crossing the hall. The first one was large as a mountain and had a gruff expression etched on his small head. The second was thin and considerably shorter than the previous, and he observed his surroundings with boredom, while the third and smallest man looked ahead with a blank expression. Thankfully, none seemed to notice him.

The group walked to the opposite hallway, and once Madara was sure they were far enough, he swiftly moved from behind his hiding spot and to the wall, just beside the corridor. He waited for a few more seconds until he heard the sound of a door opening and closing. From the volume he already knew the room they had entered. The shinobi stood up and crept to the second door to his right. He could hear the men on the other side of the paper panel taking their seats.

"You do know why we are here, right?" Takehiko asked after a few moments of silence.

"I've read your letter." A raspy unknown voice replied "I _read_ things." And from his tone, Madara figured that the man wasn't pleased about having the clan leader there.

"Very well…" The other seemed taken aback at that response "Then I hope you have made your mind about-"

"I did" The voice was so deep it was barely understandable "As I've stated in my reply letter. Did _you_ read it?"

"Of course I have." Takehiko's tone suddenly changed from civil to annoyed "But it wasn't the reply I wanted."

"We can't always get the things we want. _Get used to it_." Madara couldn't help but feel a slight sympathy for that man.

"It's not about what I want." The leader uttered behind gritted teeth "It's about the clan."

That was better than he was expecting. The only thing the boy hoped to find was some dirty secret he could use in the future, but if Takehiko was hiding something that pertained to the whole clan he'd certainly have a powerful weapon against him in the future.

"You know I sent the same letter to all the smaller villages of the Uchiha territory."

"And were their answer any like mine?"

"Mostly." Takehiko admitted "We did get a few positive results, though."

"No matter how many positive results you get, the problem with the supplies won't be solved. We can't enhance the production or lower the prices, and that's final."

"Now that we are asking for help you decide to act all important, Atsushi?" He hissed

"It's not that." The man's voice was impassive, despite the defensive words "We don't have the conditions to produce more and I cannot possibly force the villagers to lower their prices or they will starve."

"My ninja are starving, dammit!"

"Frankly, I'd advise you to keep it that way. It builds character."

"You must be joking." Takehiko snorted humorlessly

"Not at all. You should have seen what happened after the plague twenty-eight years ago. The first months were difficult, but after the selfish scum died off the rest of the town learned how to share, and eventually the hunger was a thing of the past. Which also reminds me of the barrage…"

"You and your stupid barrage…" The other murmured with a scoff.

"The stupid barrage that keeps my village safe from floods, certainly." Atsushi drawled "The very same barrage your father ordered to be built with crap instead of wood and broke down during a summer rain, flooding my village and killing more than thirty people. The same barrage you refused to pay for and that we had to reconstruct with our money and sweat, despite the rule that states that bridges, barrages and ports must be dealt with by the department with highest power, that is, you."

"You really do talk a lot for someone in your position." Takehiko hissed.

"What are you going to do, boy? Kill me? Put one of your henchmen in my place?" And he laughed soundly "You do that. But don't expect the villagers to do what you expect them to. I know each one of them as if they were my family and I can assure you that this village has not hailed any cowards in the longest of times."

"So you are going to sacrifice the whole clan for your happy little village?" The man asked.

"Oh, no. I'm just waiting for your fall, either through enemy clans invading or an inside rebellion. The second one is more of my preference, as it offers fewer risks for the smaller towns. But, if you want an advice, I'd suggest you to abandon the war against the Genji, reconsider your allies and dissolve that pathetic joke you call a council. This way your son might have the chance to become the clan leader one day."

"Keep the tea." Takehiko replied coldly "I can see you really are in need of it."

"Have a safe trip." Atsushi muttered with a chuckle, and Madara sprinted to the exit door, knowing it was time for him to leave.

So Takehiko was having difficulty to manage the clan, huh?

Madara's grin went from one ear to the other.

That was his lucky day.

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First I'd like to thank the people who commented but don't have/weren't logged to their accounts, so I couldn't send you a message. ^-^' Oh, and on the meantime, thanks for everyone who favorited/watched the story or is still following it. Even if I can't see your face *waves hands around as if trying to find invisible people*

= _ ='

Oh, and I know I'm taking too long on the romance thing, but I promise there will be great progress in the next chapter. Seriously, I'll let you guys punch me if there isn't.


	9. Flinch

After his investigation Madara stopped by a small tea shop. He suddenly had a carving for something sweet.

He bought two wagashi, even though his intention was to eat just one. Buying two at once would cheaper than buying one at a time, and if he wanted some sugar again soon he'd just have to look on his pocket.

He put one of the candies away and took a bite out of the second one. He didn't make a habit out of eating sweets, but it had been such a long time…

Madara left the village leisurely, half expecting to be stopped by one of the ninja. He also tried to spot Izuna, but he wasn't anywhere.

The sky was already becoming grey when he reached the road to the forest. If he kept walking on that rhythm he'd only arrive at the river after it was dark. He didn't want to fasten his pace, nor did he feel like crossing a stream and climbing a slope during nighttime, so he decided he'd take the longest path, the one that went through Katsuro's farm. Though he usually disliked wasting time, he was feeling too content to be bothered by that.

He was still angry about being sent to a village where his skills were not needed while the rest of the ninja were in important missions and he still wanted revenge on Takehiko because of that, but knowing that their leader was on knife-edge was both entertaining and a great news for his and Izuna's plans. He wondered what his brother managed to find out; whatever it was, he betted it wasn't as good as what he had.

Madara went on his way blissfully, avoiding thinking about anything except how good the pastry tasted and how silent that place was - now that there was none to distract him.

It was already dark when he spotted a light on the side of the road that was closer to the forest.

As he approached, the dark silhouette holding the paper lantern began to take shape, and even if he couldn't see its face, he already knew who it was.

"Are you waiting for me?" He asked out loud.

"What if I say I am?" A female voice replied and he took a few more steps, until he came face to face with her. Ringo was sitting at the slope by the dirt road and looked at him expectantly.

"I just met Izuna a few minutes ago and he said that you'd probably pass by to get something to eat." She giggled

"Hm" He pursed his lips "I'm not hungry."

"Really?" The girl tilted her head to the side "You normally eat like a pig."

Madara didn't answer, just jerked his head back slightly and started walking away when Ringo cried out to him.

"Wait!" He looked at her from behind his shoulder, raising an eyebrow "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Who told you I was supposed to find something?"

"Izuna" She confessed "He said you were spying on Takehiko. So, did you find anything interesting?"

So she already knew that? Then hiding that particular piece of information was pointless, and sooner or later everyone would be aware of it anyways. Not to mention that he wanted to brag about it so bad…

The ninja turned around fully and took a few steps towards her, smirking.

"First of all, I must warn you that you're standing in front of the future leader of the Uchiha clan." He announced smugly.

"Oh, I know!" She replied "And I'm not really standing, more like sitting..."

"You know that?" Madara's smirk transfigured into a scowl "How?"

"Izuna told me about… a week ago."

The young man scoffed and muttered a swear-word under his breath, while making a mental note to have a serious conversation with his brother later.

"And what did you find?" Ringo insisted, the light making the curious glisten in her eyes shine even more.

He sat beside her, glad to be able to tell about the good news to someone other than Izuna. Though Ringo never showed to be interested in political matters, she was a great listener when she wanted to.

"Takehiko can't manage the clan. And the situation is even worse than I had expected" He had a grin on his face while saying that "There's not enough food to supply the army and he can't get the smaller villages to help. At this point it wouldn't be difficult to receive support to start a rebellion, even from some of the high ranking shinobi."

"Why would you need to start a rebellion?" The girl frowned "Can't you just kill Takehiko and take his place?"

"If I didn't want things to change, then of course. I could challenge him to a fight, and if he denied he'd lose all the little respect he still has, but that would be a meaningless victory. The council currently holds more influence over the clan than the leader. The members remain the same after the leader's death and either changing or killing them would cause a fuss. If the council dissolves through a rebellion it will seem more natural. At the same time, if I simply killed Takehiko not many people would sympathize, as they'd assume I only did it for the position. A rebellion is a way to get support from the masses and simultaneously sever the current elite's control."

"But… wouldn't a rebellion cause many deaths?"

"Yes." Madara admitted "But to give you an idea… If we were to take over through a rebellion we'd lose dozens of people, but if nothing changes that'll turn into hundreds, if not the whole clan. If things keep going in the direction they are we are all doomed."

"Everything seems fine to me…" The peasant muttered with an embarrassed smile.

"Believe me, when things start going to hell even you will know it." He smirked, and Ringo rolled her eyes, but remained silent "… Has Izuna told you about your brother?"

Dark eyes immediately widened in surprise, and before Madara could understand what was happening, he found himself holding back a girl that had practically jumped on him.

"Michio? D-did you hear about him? Where is he? Is he okay? Is he coming home?"

"Calm down" He held her by the wrists and pushed her back, forcing her to sit down again "I've heard about him. Takehiko said he was in the Land of Earth."

"Land of Earth?" Ringo furrowed her brows "Aren't they fighting against the Senju there?" He nodded "D-do you think he is okay?"

No, he didn't. Michio never had formal training before – and he was probably sent to fight in a foreign land by a sad mistake – and the supplies were low. If he were to be honest, he'd tell the girl that her brother was likely dead, but he feared she'd start crying, and he'd much rather face a thousand of enemies by himself than deal with tears. On the other side, if he were in a similar situation he'd hate to be fed false hopes that one day he'd see Izuna again.

"No" He said at last "I think there are great chances that he is dead."

Ringo's eyes widened slightly before becoming gentle again. The corners of her lips curled upwards in a small smile, but it couldn't hide the tears that welled up in the corner of her eyes. Madara immediately regretted not lying.

"I think you're wrong." She muttered softly, avoiding looking at him "You don't know him; I do. Michio wouldn't die for anything." Madara briefly thought about arguing, but once he noticed she was having trouble to believe her own words he decided against it.

Silence ensued and the wind suddenly seemed to have become colder. Ringo hugged her knees to herself and stared at the road emotionlessly.

Madara felt as if his hand moved on its own as it searched for something on his pocket and pulled out a paper bag with something soft inside.

"Oi" He called and the girl looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

He extended the package towards her, and, as he had expected, she took it from him out of curiosity.

"What is it?" Ringo asked.

"Open."

Though she seemed mildly suspicious, the temptation was too big to resist and the girl started unwrapping the paper and revealing a round piece of green dough, which she promptly poked.

"Daifuku?" Ringo seemed genuinely surprised "Are you giving me this?"

"Can I make it any more obvious?" Madara raised an eyebrow and she smiled lightly at him before taking a small bite out of the sweet.

Seconds ticked by and the boy frowned when he noticed she was taking longer than she needed to finish the wagashi. He felt compelled to leave, but he didn't want to risk having her start crying.

"You know what?" She said after finally having eaten the candy "I think he's scared of you."

"Who's scared of me?" Madara looked at her with surprise

"Takehiko. Didn't you say he tricked you into coming here? I bet he just did it because he knows you can take his place and so he's scared of you." She pondered before shrugging "of you and Izuna, but mostly of you. I don't blame him; you're scary."

"Takehiko knows I can take his place?" He grinned mockingly "I doubt it. He is blind to anything that displeases him."

"Well, I think that anyone who has eyes can see it."

"Can you?" He asked with suspicion, but at the same time hoping she was serious.

"Of course!" Ringo smiled "Father said you knew a lot about the clan and war and everything. Plus, there's something about you that almost makes me want to obey you."

"Hmm…" Madara eyed her amusedly "Bark."

"Huh?" He put one hand over her head and his smile widened

"Bark, dog" The girl shoved his hand away and turned to the other side, mumbling something and making him chuckle.

Things became quiet again, but this time the silence felt much more comfortable.

"Nnngh…" Ringo stretched happily "I think I'm going now. Thank you for… hmmm… being honest and nice… for once, that is." She giggled at her own words and started getting up "Good night"

"Night" The shinobi mumbled and the girl stopped on her tracks and turned back to him. She looked at her own feet, and her hold on the lantern's handle loosened before strengthening again.

Before Madara realized what was going on, Ringo had lowered to his level and lightly pressed her lips against his. The kiss didn't last long, though, as she suddenly squeaked and ran to the forest, almost falling on her face after tripping over a rock.

At first his eyes were glued to the place she had been sitting, and then they moved to the spot where she had just disappeared.

After his muddled mind started working again, the first thought it produced made him frown and lastly chuckle at the irony.

The kiss tasted of apples.

* * *

><p>"Hello, person who told me not to take too long! How are you this fine evening?" Izuna greeted. Even though his brother had a pleasant smile on his face, Madara caught the venom dripping from his words "So, since you arrived fashionably late, I'm assuming you also found out many interesting things! Go on, do tell!"<p>

"What I found out…?" Seeming unfazed by his brother's sarcasm, the other started, sitting down in front of the bonfire "Oh, yes… I discovered that you went about telling of our intentions towards the clan. Incredibly interesting, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh" The youngest shinobi nodded once he saw the glare that was being sent to him "So Ringo did talk to you, huh?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Madara asked, growing irritated, but then sighed, remembering he didn't want to lose his head during what remained of the day "Why did you tell? Hadn't we agreed to keep it between ourselves for the time being?"

"Meh. I didn't see any harm." Izuna shrugged "She'd end up finding about it anyway. I just thought it would be fun to brag!"

Sometimes his brother thought so much like him, Madara felt concerned.

"So what did you find out?" The other inquired more seriously now.

"You tell first" Madara grinned "The best for last…"

"Alright" Izuna rolled his eyes "The soldiers were difficult to talk to, but I managed to get a few things from them. Most were bullshit, but I found out that the Genji seem to be winning the war on the other side, and many of the ninja there are giving up and coming back to the stronghold. The war in the Land of Earth is going badly too, but some of them said the two sides seem to be about to make a deal, but I think this is just gossip. Either way… none of them seems happy about Takehiko. Now what did _you_ find out?"

"He won't last long." Madara's smile became somewhat sinister "He's losing all campaigns, running out of money to solve internal conflicts and there is not even food to supply the army. Takehiko wanted the heads of the villages to force the farmers to lower their prices and produce more." Izuna raised an eyebrow

"So if the peasants aren't happy either…"

"This is going to be too easy…" The other chuckled and ran a hand through his hair "It's not even fun!"

His brother flashed him a smile before turning back to the burning fire and nudged a rock towards it with his foot.

"Why didn't you tell Ringo about her brother?" Madara muttered, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Izuna looked up "Ah, I thought you should. You even asked Takehiko about it, which is, by the way, highly uncharacteristic of you. How did she react?"

"She thinks he's fine. I doubt it, but if the girl wants to delude herself it's not my business."

The youngest nodded, before furrowing his brows in thought. After some pondering, he leaned closer to his brother and gave him a knowing smirk.

"There's something you're not telling me." Izuna spoke, his eyes widening and his brother's narrowing "What is it?"

"Hmm… Since you're so smart, why don't you figure it out for yourself?" He smiled smugly.

"How come you're suddenly so happy?"

He shrugged "Feeling lucky"

* * *

><p>In more than one occasion during Madara's and Izuna's stay Ringo and Katsuro had went to the village without them, so the brothers weren't surprised when they found the house empty the next morning. Instead, they used the opportunity to wash themselves and snoop around.<p>

Hours later, the sun was blazing high in the sky, and yet none of the farmers had shown up. Not even once they had been away from their home at noon. Shouldn't they be cooking dinner by now?

"Hey" Izuna called, sitting down in the porch by his brother "Yesterday, did Ringo say that they wouldn't be here for lunch?"

"No. She didn't even say they were going to the village"

"Oh"

Madara sighed, once he noticed what his sibling was trying to say

"Do you want to go looking for them?"

"I thought you were never going to ask" The boy grinned getting up, and the other followed suit "Let's go!"

"But let's do it quickly. I'm hungry."

Izuna flashed him a bright smile and the two took off towards the forest.

The two arrived at the village shortly after and reduced their speed once they were by the entry gates.

"Where do you think we should start looking?" The youngest asked, quickly scanning the main road

"I don't know. We'll ask around." Needless to say, by 'we' Madara meant 'you'.

"Yeah, _we_ will" Izuna muttered sarcastically and craned his neck, searching for someone who could know Katsuro. But from what he knew of the man, he and his daughter got along with all the villagers so he figured any passerby would do.

The boy spotted a group of five men sitting on a large bench under a yew, and it took him less than a second to recognize one of them.

"I found Katsuro." His companion seemed surprised at how fast he located the farmer, but nodded curtly and walked with him to where the man was.

Katsuro, who was looking down and shaking his head while talking to a man beside him, looked up and his eyes widened the moment they fell on the brothers and he shot up.

"Is she with you?" He asked shrilly "Have you…?"

As he ran to them, he stood on his toes and tried to search for something that could be hidden behind them, but when he saw nothing, his gaze fell to the ground and his shoulders dropped.

"Something happened…?" Izuna started hesitantly and the peasant buried a hand under his thin hair, not daring to look up.

"I can't find Ringo… Sh-she… Just earlier today I asked her to come to the village and fetch something for me… Since she was taking so long I decided to see if everything was alright but…" Katsuro shook his head violently "None's seen her since yesterday morning, even the people she was supposed to meet today…" And he drew a shuddery breath.

"How long was that?" Madara asked

"She left less than an hour after the sun rose…" The shinobi nodded

"We'll go after her."

The middle-aged man's mouth hung open and that was the first time the brothers saw that much expression on his face. Although he was taller and his eyes were very intimidating by themselves – a trait they had already grown used to – Katsuro suddenly seemed a lot more vulnerable than they had ever seen.

"You…" His voice dropped a few tones and he swallowed before bowing gravely "Thank you."

The man remained static as the two turned their backs to him and marched to the exit.

"If she didn't pass by the village she's probably somewhere in between it and the forest." Izuna remarked

"So we should split up again."

"We've been splitting up an awful number of times, haven't we?"

"I'll go north and you south." Madara continues ignoring his brother "Keep checking for her chakra, as pathetic as it is. Who knows where that girl got herself into…"

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This chapter… didn't come out as I expected. X( I'm always scared of making the characters ooc, and that my notions on naruto-verse politics and economy are shabby (as they are irl) … But I promised _some_ romance and there it is! More to come, too.

Pfft… The kiss tasted of apples…. I should just hang myself for corniness…

Wagashi is the term used to refer to traditional Japanese sweets. Daifuku is a particular type of wagashi made of sweet bean paste and glutinous rice – and it's tasty B)

Oh… And you don't think I deserve to be punched… Do you? D:


	10. Truce

Other than the rustling of the leaves and the occasional chirp of a bird, the woods were silent. There were no twigs snapping, no sudden movement in the bushes and not a single sound that could be attributed to a lost girl.

But perhaps the term 'lost' wasn't appropriate. If she was raised in that forest, it would be only natural that she knew that place very well. If anything, Madara thought with a grimace, he was more lost than her. Yet, if he got himself in any difficult situation he knew he was more than capable of freeing himself from it. She, on the other hand…

His thoughts were briefly directed to the group of thieves they had encountered not long ago in the very direction he was heading to. If, like they had said, that area was a safe place to steal from civilians, it wouldn't surprise him that other criminals had the same idea. He didn't want to think of the possibility of Ringo finding people like that. She spoke far too much and smelled far too nice.

The shinobi stopped for a moment to focus on her chakra, but a low growl emerged from his throat when he couldn't feel anything. He wished there was a better way to track her. For someone so loud, the girl sure was hard to locate.

Madara was about to take off again when he saw something dangling from the branch of a tree. Under a closer inspection, he discovered it was a piece of cloth. He had no idea if it was hers, but it was a trace worth following.

The grass and leaves by the tree looked tousled, so someone surely had been standing there before and not briefly. The patch turned into a trail going deeper into the woods. He refused to believe it was just a coincidence.

He followed the track at record speed, but it led him to a large boulder by a cliff he didn't think Ringo would be able to climb or walk around. Only when he was a few feet away from the rock he noticed the crack in its base. Tall grass hid the slit from the rest of the world. It was just big enough for him to go through, and he had not doubt that this was the path Ringo had taken.

Madara crouched down and snuck into the hole, glad there was none there to see him. In the end, the crack was smaller than he had though. He managed to fit in, but barely.

The hole was the entrance to a tunnel that pointed downwards. That meant it probably ended on the other side of the cliff, outside the Uchiha territory. The clan didn't have any legal rights over that place, and none of the shinobi scouted the area. The field between the lands of the Uchiha and the Senju had no owner, and therefore no law, being a place where bandits liked to gather. Being there wasn't dangerous for him, but it certainly would be for a civil.

Once he exited the tunnel Madara took a look at his surroundings. The soil was much barren when compared to that of the land above, and the trees not nearly as imposing. He was about to try and find another trace of the girl, but when he heard a sudden movement coming from the bushes and saw a mass of black hair surging from behind a tree, he knew he didn't have to look any further.

Ringo stepped into the glade, too busy tying the sash around her waist to notice the other presence. She only looked up when he was already too close.

At first she looked surprised, but soon her eyes softened and she smiled at him sheepishly.

"Ma…"

"What do you think you are doing?" He hissed, and at his words the girl's visage fell and she gave a step back.

"W-wha… um… taking a walk?" She stuttered and offered him an uncertain grin, which only seemed to have darkened his mood.

"A walk?" Madara scorned and moved forward to close the distance she had created "A walk in the middle of no goddamn where…" His disdainful expression changed into one of anger "If death is what you are looking for there much easier ways to find it."

"Wha…" Ringo's frown transfigured into a glare, while she tiptoed to get as close to his eyelevel as she could "What I do with my time is none of your business!"

"Does the same goes for your father?" The young man mocked "You should warn him, then, because he seems to have half a mind to jump from a cliff to go after you."

The peasant's face reddened, and she flinched, a hurtful look crossing her features before she turned away from him and started walking in the opposite direction.

"I don't have to listen to you…"

Before she could make any progress, though, she was seized by the wrist and spun around, only to be met by two furious dark eyes.

"Now you do." The girl tried to free herself from his grasp, but the harder she tried, the stronger his grip became. At last she stopped struggling and looked at him defiantly "…You are lying" He said after a moment of silence. Since Ringo didn't dispute the statement he continued "You wouldn't swerve from a task your father gave to you, and you certainly wouldn't do it just to take a walk, and that far away from your village most of all. What did you come here for?"

Ringo turned away from him and bit her lower lip, as if too embarrassed to tell him the truth.

"I… I just… I wanted to find Michio…" She blurted out, blushing harder than ever.

"I'll ask again." He said slowly "What did you come here for?"

"I told you." She mumbled "I wanted to find my brother."

Madara stared at the girl, with eyes devoid of emotion, as she tried to stand in a more comfortable position while avoiding his gaze. His silence didn't last, though, as his face became as red as hers and he opened his mouth to yell at her.

"How dumb would you have to be…?" And he let out a dry laugh "You cannot be serious… Are you saying you were planning on walking all the way to the Land of Earth, on your own, in the middle of a war to go see if your brother is alright? Make sure that he's been eating his vegetables? Were you, really, in all the faculties of that, oh, so bright mind of yours, going to walk around with a fucking poster saying 'Rob me/Rape me/Kill me' in a place where the people are very capable and very willing to do so?"

"Look, I-!"

"Shut up." If his voice was burning with fury before, it was now covered in layers upon layers of ice, and Ringo flinched when the iron grip on her wrist became even stronger "There is no possible excuse for that. And being stupid is not an excuse."

"You said he was dead!" She yelled, now resuming on trying to break free.

"And you want to join him?" He mocked, only pulling her closer "Why am I not surprised? I guess you have showed your suicidal tendencies before - or maybe you are just really stupid."

"Don't." Ringo said firmly, locking eyes with him "Stop calling me stupid."

"I'll keep calling you stupid while you keep giving me reasons to. Stupid."

"I'm not stupid!" The peasant shouted

"You know, your name really does suit you." The girl stopped and looked up at him with curiosity "You have the wits of a fruit."

Ringo's breath got caught up in her throat and it took her almost a full minute to recover, but when she did, her first reaction was to raise her arm and try to slap him in the face, but Madara caught her wrist with his free hand, seeming unfazed.

The girl's second instinct was to kick him in the shin, but the shinobi tripped her before she had the chance. If it wasn't for her hands being held, Ringo would have fallen on the ground

"…You're trying to hit me?" The girl gasped when his grip on her suddenly became painful.

"Ah" She tried to hide a whimper "L-let go!"

"Of course…" He started "…When you apologize."

The peasant looked up with wide eyes , and her lips quivered. She tried to free herself, initially just pulling her arms, but as all of her tactics failed, one after another, her attempts became much more violent, as she kicked around blindly, shook her head furiously and let out gruff grunts. Still, Madara remained stolid.

Finally, Ringo stopped thrashing about and tried to pull him down with just her weight. When that plan also failed, she let her head drop to hide her face with her hair, and started sniffing. Soon her shoulders started shaking, and the sniffs turned into sobs.

Madara frowned and promptly released her, making her fall down. The girl remained in the same position for a few seconds, before turning to the other side, rubbing her eyes and standing up. The young man had been so taken aback by her reaction that it took him almost an entire minute to notice she was storming away, and when he started walking after her, she took off.

"Where do you think you're going?" He thundered, fastening his pace.

"Away from you!"

Even though Ringo had been running with all her might, Madara didn't have to make any efforts to stop her again.

"Let go!" She yelled shaking her arm furiously "I thought you were going to let me go!"

"So you can try and get yourself killed? Alright." He snorted, and his sarcasm didn't go unnoticed, as the girl let out a frustrated scream.

" !" She tried to yank her hand away, but his grip was too firm.

Madara twisted her around, pinning the arm he was holding behind her back and seizing her by the waist. Ringo kicked him the best she could, but none of her attacks seemed to affect him.

"Now will you…" The shinobi stpped mid-sentence when he noticed something he shouldn't have "Shut up and stay behind me." He said whilst releasing her.

"Why should…"

"You will if you want to stay alive!" He hissed angrily "Now follow me."

Ringo didn't seem happy about being ordered around, but nodded and tugged the back of his shirt. Once Madara was sure she wasn't going to run away he started taking careful steps forward.

The peasant obviously hadn't noticed, but there were people nearby. Judging by their chakra level, Madara concluded they were in eight and all well trained ninja, unlike the group of bandits from before.

He walked towards the energy source with careful steps, paying attention to his surroundings. If it weren't for Ringo he wouldn't be so meticulous – He didn't want to risk getting her in the middle of the crossfire.

As the chakra became more distinguished and voices started being heard, Madara crouched down and hid behind some bushes, dragging the girl with him. He looked through the leaves to see, not too far away and just a few feet below, a group of shinobi. All of them were grown up males, not a single teenager among their ranks, and they all looked very much alike. Dark, either brown or red hair, broad shoulders, grey eyes, tanned skin and most had a large hammer strapped to their backs.

'Shirohae' Madara though, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He hated that clan, almost as much as he hated the Senju. They were one of the richest and most influential clans in the Land of Earth, and perhaps also in the whole ninja world. Despite this, their only strength in combat was their wide range of earth ninjutsu and sheer brute force. They didn't have any kekkei-genkai or particular skills, and it irked the boy that such ordinary people would have a better reputation than his kin.

"Ordinary" One of the men of the group said, and for a moment Madara was worried he could read his thoughts "That's what this place is. Ordinary."

"We're still in none's land, remember?" One of his companions hissed "Everything is shitty down here. Just wait 'till we climb that plateau."

The Uchiha frowned. The only plateau nearby was already part of their territory.

"Eh, I just never really cared about the Uchiha's land." At this point Madara's eyes widened, and he had to hold back not to jump on that man and bite his head off.

"Or you just want this mission to be over with so you can get a drink." A third man joked

"You don't have a voice on the matter, either way." The second man said again "That's our task and I plan to complete it thoroughly."

"Fine, fine! …I'm just a lil' bored, that's all." The man took a breath before resuming his speech again "But isn't it too far?"

"Yeah, but that's the point." The other one, who seemed to be the leader, answered gruffly "If we have this territory we won't just be confined to the Land of Earth. And, simultaneously, it's near the Senju so we can either-"

The man never got to finish that sentence, though, as a kunai came flying towards him and lodged itself in the back of his head, and he fell down on his face, dead.

"What the…?" One of the shinobi yelled jumping to his feet "Where did that come from? Ken, find them!"

"That won't be needed." All of the men turned toward the source of the sound to come face to face with Madara standing at the edge of the cliff, arms crossed and a smug smirk plastered on his face "I'm part of the welcoming committee. Now let me show you a little of the hospitality of the Uchiha."

And with that he was down on the ground, landing just behind one of the shorter men and snapping his neck. The reaction was immediate. One of the ninja swung his hammer at the boy at an incredible speed, but Madara managed to dodge it. On the other hand, he ran into another shinobi, who promptly kicked him. He was sent flying in the air, did a backflip and landed on his feet. Even though he got hit, Madara wasn't angry at all. If anything his mood went from furious to excited.

Just as one of the men came to him, he unsheathed his blade, and quickly swerving to the side, he got an opening to cut off his opponent's arm. The man let out a pained sound that resembled a choked scream, but he didn't get to complain any more, as a sharp object was jammed into his skull.

Madara felt the ground beneath him cracking, and the earth opened into a big hole that resembled a mouth with sharp teeth. He jumped up just in time, but as he was in the air, one of the shinobi used his hammer to hit him in the side and the Uchiha was sent like a projectile towards a tree, hitting and breaking it in half.

He sensed another attacker coming at him, so he rolled to the side and quickly got up, activating his Sharingan. These enemies, unlike the group of bandits, meant business and he'd have to pay more attention to them. Just as his vision became normal again, he noticed one of the men leaping to where he left Ringo. His eyes widened and started spinning, just as black flames engulfed the ninja that was coming to the bushes. Soon there weren't even ashes left of him.

Still pumped up with anger, Madara stepped closer to one of his enemies and cut off his head, just to be attacked by an earth ninjutsu and pulled into the ground. He quickly made a few handseals to escape the trap, just in time to avoid the hammer that was about to crush his head. He kicked his attacker's chin, and while the man was spinning, he managed to steal his hammer and hit him in the ribs. He felt something being crushed under the weapon, but the other man was still standing, so he couldn't have caused much damage.

There were still three left. Madara knew he could take them down, but now he was worried about Ringo. If he had killed as many enemies as he could with his first strike instead of making an entrance, now he wouldn't have to be as cautious.

One of his opponents let his weapon drop at his side and made several handsigns. Madara wasn't familiar with them, but he knew it was an earth ninjutsu and quite a powerful one at that. The technique ended up being like the first that had been used against him, but in a much larger scale. The ground split in two with a large rumble, and Madara jumped to the branches of one of the trees, just in time to see the hole getting big enough to reach the cliff he had left the farmer. He used the trunk to propel himself towards her, and landing just about two feet of the girl who was hugging her knees and covering her face, he hoisted her before smashing her against his chest. Ringo winced at the forcefulness, but was relieved when the boy sprung away from the terrain that was being swallowed by the earth.

"Stay." He ordered hoarsely, setting the girl on the ground again "I'll take care of this."

Without waiting for a reply, Madara ran back to where the Shirohae had been. The three opponents that remained were standing in the center of a large crater.

"Oi" One of the men yelled out to him "Are you Madara?"

The Uchiha raised his eyebrow. Though he knew his name was fairly popular among his own clan and other shinobi, he was not used to people recognizing him by his face.

"Heard of me?" He replied trying to sound uninterested, and the man snorted.

"Can't believe it! You're a brat!"

"A brat that killed more than half of your troop effortlessly, aye." He was quick to remind, and the other glared at him before spitting on the ground.

"A snotty arrogant bastard, that's what I heard. Guess they were right!"

"Are you going to fight me or just keep whining like a bitch in heat?"

His enemy sneered and made a series of handseals, making the earth around his feet crawl over his body and form a resistant looking armor. Madara figured he wouldn't be able to pierce through the thing with his sword, nor crush it with his new hammer (for he decided he'd keep it), but he already had a different plan.

"Get down here, little girl!" The man yelled "So we can dance!"

"It'd be my pleasure." He replied in between gritted teeth and jumped down to the crater.

The golem, almost three full heads taller than him, started moving closer, quickly, as if he was a light-weighted person sliding across ice, instead of a stone giant. Although he was moving fast, Madara didn't feel intimidated by the armored shinobi. He smirked, made a few handsigns and inhaled deeply before blowing a massive ball of fire that engulfed his opponent. The man noticed his mistake far too late, and as he was trying to release his jutsu, he was caught in the flames, quickly becoming a mixture of burnt rocks and carbonized bones and flesh.

"Idiot." Madara said amusedly, staring at his handiwork before turning back to the other two "Next."

One of the enemy ninja made another jutsu, causing sharp spikes to grow from the earth. They'd have impaled Madara if he hadn't jumped up just in time and used the large hammer to break a few spikes before landing again. However, just as his feet touched the ground, the other man used another technique, and thick stone slabs emerged from the ground, closing onto him. He managed to escape, but the hammer was stuck in between two walls, and Madara cursed, before leaving the weapon behind and charging towards one of his opponents.

The man was ready for him, and swung his hammer at him, but Madara jumped up and touched the flat part of the weapon to launch himself in the air and jump over the other. He landed again, and turned around quickly, going for another attack. His opponent managed to avoid the blows, but barely, and Madara was just about to cut open his stomach when the other joined the fight, almost hitting the top of his head with full strength. The Uchiha crouched down and escaped from between one of the men's legs swiftly, hiding behind one of the spikes.

His opponents didn't take long to find him, though, as one of them used his weapon to crush the rock, hoping to hit Madara as well, but he quickly snuck from his hideout and used his sword to slash the other's back. The man was too strong for him to do it easily, but Madara managed to cut him in half. Because of this delay, the last enemy managed to get close enough, and Madara felt his breath leaving him as a heavy hammer hit him in the chest. He was sent flying backwards and hit one of the spikes, before falling down and coughing up blood.

The enemy ran towards him and went to the final blow, but Madara kneeled back up and held the handle of the weapon with a strength he didn't know he possessed. Even though his opponent was stronger than him, he managed to hold him for long enough to force him to look into his eyes, and at that point both knew very well who had won the battle.

* * *

><p>Ryuu found something tied to his neck when he opened his eyes again. He also couldn't breathe, but for some reason he was still alive and conscious, even though the pain in his throat was almost unbearable. He looked up to see the long rope with which he was being hanged, but he could not see the end of. Around him, the red walls with nails and wooden spikes coming from them were shaped circularly, and so he concluded he was inside a well. When he looked down, the only thing he could see was his own body and the haunting darkness below.<p>

"Hn" A vaguely familiar voice muttered, seemingly from all around him "So… How are you holding up?" It chuckled, as if laughing at its own joke. Ryuu was about to yell something witty (or at least that he hoped would be witty) in return, but he could barely open his mouth.

"That's quite the fragile rope you're holding to. If you were planning to invade the Uchiha land you should have brought something stronger. Sometimes it gets windy…"

As soon as that speech was finished, Ryuu felt a light breeze blowing in the back of his neck, and he felt his spine freeze as the thin rope hoisting him up began wavering, at first very little, but soon the wind grew so strong he was being thrown about at an insane speed. He felt sick.

Suddenly everything stopped, as if something was holding him up high and the voice started again.

"…You were the one who used that jutsu with the spikes against me, right? …Well, no matter."

Gravity started working again and the shinobi was pulled down. This time the rope gave in and he fell into the dark pit. It wasn't as deep as he expected, for soon enough his eyes caught the glimpse of something under him. There was nothing to hold to, so Ryuu felt himself falling into a pit of stakes and being impaled by them. The pain was enormous, but he still couldn't bring himself to scream and let it all out. His body started sinking into the spikes and the bundle in his throat only grew bigger. He felt something brushing against the skin of his neck, and as he was slowly lowered, the stake pierced through him, freeing him from the curse of silence and allowing him to unleash a monstrous scream along with buckets of blood.

And then everything went black.

* * *

><p>Madara nudged the man with his foot. He wasn't dead, but that wouldn't be for long.<p>

The shinobi unstrapped the hammer from the other's back, and lifted the weapon and smashed his head with it.

He set the hammer down briefly to wipe the blood running from his eyes, and picked it up again before walking towards where he had left Ringo. He found her hugging a tree and hiding her face against the bark.

"Get up." He said, and when the girl didn't respond he offered his hand to her, but she only shook her head.

"Do you still want to go looking for your brother?" He hissed and grabbed hold of her forearm.

"N-no!" She replied quickly "I… I saw that. I saw everything…"

"You shouldn't have looked then." He reprimanded, but his tone had lost a good deal of its hostility. "Come on, get up."

Ringo tried to stand up, using the tree as support, but her knees faltered and she fell down.

Madara let out an impatient sigh, just to pick her up and throw her against his shoulder.

"No!" The peasant whined weakly "You're soaked in blood!"

"And you can't walk." He shot back "I'm not waiting here for you to grow some guts."

The girl mumbled some nonsense, but ran her arms around his shoulders nonetheless, holding firmly onto him. Madara climbed one of the trees, using chakra to keep his feet fixed to the surface and started jumping from branch to branch.

"Don't you dare throw up on me, now." He remarked, half-serious and half-jokingly, but the only reply he got was a face being buried against the crook of his neck, and it took him all his will not to throw her against a tree and smash his lips against hers when he felt her breath fanning against his skin.

The first moments of the trip were silent, but Ringo muttered something before the first minute was over.

"You should apologize."

"Apologize?" He snorted "You are the one who vanishes into the woods, tells none of where you're going, plans on going all the way to other nation by yourself, and leaves your father scared out of his wits, and I am the one who has to apologize? I think not."

"I know." She grumbled "I know I did wrong, and I will apologize to my father. But you called me stupid. And that hurt a lot. And considering all the other times you hurt me before and never apologized, I think you still have it easy."

"And yet you shouldn't apologize for hurting me?"

"I will, if you apologize first!" Ringo's volume went up.

"As if." He replied in a tone that clearly indicated that the conversation was over.

Ringo remained silent for a few more seconds, before sighing against his neck and making him shiver.

"Let's do it like this. I'll apologize first, but then you have to do it too, okay?"

"And if I don't?" The girl stopped to consider before replying

"Then I won't ever talk to you again. Even if I want to, I'll never even look at your face, because if all you'll ever do is hurting me I don't want to have anything to do with you."

"I doubt you'd be able to keep your promise." He smiled smugly, even if the girl couldn't see his face.

"Try me." Ringo said softly, but her undertone was that of a treat.

Madara's eyebrows rose, mildly worried about her words. Even though he couldn't believe someone as talkative and curious as her would be able to spend even three hours without asking him a question, he was surprised to discover that was a risk he didn't want to take.

"Fine." He answered gruffly "I will apologize. But _you_ start!"

"Alright… I am sorry. I shouldn't have ran away like that. I made my father worried, and possibly other people too. I do admit it was stupid of me to go looking for my brother like that. I should have more faith in him too. Also, I'm sorry for trying to hit you. You… went through the trouble of looking for me, and also killing all those shinobi, and God knows what would have happened if you weren't there. You quite possibly saved my life… I'm sorry for being so ungrateful… Now your turn!"

Madara was surprised at the length and thoroughness of that apology, and most of all how she managed to sound so sincere and grave, and then so peppy. She made apologizing sound easy.

"I…" He sighed, trying to come up with what say next. He figured it would be better to say everything at once, or otherwise he'd stutter his apologies, and Uchiha Madara _did not_ stutter "I'm sorry for calling you stupid. You are not, even though what you did back there was. I'm sorry for having hurt you, as it never was truly my intention. I'm sorry for having been so rude to you and your father even after you welcomed me into my house… And now, how is that?"

To his surprise, Ringo giggled in return.

"I can't believe you just apologized."

"Don't push your luck." He replied with a frown, and the farmer laughed, patting his head.

They were silent for a few more minutes, before Ringo breathed on his neck again.

"Stop that!" He snapped.

"Stop what?" She seemed honestly surprised with his reaction.

"Stop breathing on my neck!"

"Oooh~! Does that tickle?" The girl seemed extremely pleased with the new information.

"No." He grumbled, but she clearly didn't fall for that.

"No? Then you won't mind…" And she blew against his neck.

"Stop!" He roared, and she giggled once more, before breathing again. This time he felt something skimming against his skin, so he quickly took her out of his back and pushed her against the trunk of one of the trees, holding her arms firmly against it and staring into her eyes.

"Will you stop now?" He asked very seriously, but the girl gave him a crooked smile and leaned in closer. However, before she could do anything, a pair of lips came crashing down on hers and she was pushed back until her head hit the bark of the tree.

At first, Ringo was so shocked she couldn't think straight, but then, hesitantly, she started responding, even if she felt embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable.

One of Madara's hands left her arm and came to rest in her waist, and she slowly raised her free appendage and lightly touched his shoulder. Encouraged by her gesture, he snuck his hand behind her to bring her closer and tried to pry her jaw open. Ringo let out a yelp and used her hand to try and push him away. He let go of her, albeit reluctantly.

"…You taste like blood." Ringo complained, frowning and cleaning her mouth with her sleeve, and Madara rolled his eyes.

"Get up." He instructed, while turning his back to her and crouching to her level. The girl hugged his neck and arranged herself the best she could "And don't you breathe on my neck again!"

Madara felt her nodding faintly, before laying her head against his. He stood up and started going in the direction of the farm again.

* * *

><p>Madara wasn't expecting to find anyone in the farm, so it was no wonder he was so surprised when he saw Katsuro kneeled down in front of a tree and resting his head against it, his lips moving as if he was praying.<p>

As soon as Madara set the girl down, the farmer looked up. His puffy eyes grew to a size the shinobi didn't believe to be possible, and Katsuro scrambled to his feet to hug the girl.

"Ringo!" He let her name out groggily, and Madara couldn't help but wonder if he was drunk as he started kissing the girl's head frantically "Where have you been? Where…"

The man could not make any more noises, and just hugged his daughter close to him, while she clung to him in return.

After what felt like hours to Madara, Katsuro let go of the girl, and only them he seemed to notice the blood in their clothes.

"What happened?" He asked to the boy this time, with eyes big as saucers.

"We encountered enemy ninja."

Katsuro's orbs only grew wider, and if it weren't for the situation they were in, Madara would have burst out laughing at his expression.

"N-ninja? How? Where were you?"

"Outside of the Uchiha territory." The other answered, and the famer shot a dark look to the girl beside him.

"Ringo, what were you doing?" She flinched and looked away "Answer me!"

"I…" She turned to Madara for help but he didn't say anything or even showed her any sympathy, so, looking as small as she could, she whispered her answer "I… I had been looking for Michio…"

Katsuro was silent, before exploding in a fit of rage.

"YOU WHAT?" Ringo flinched at the tone and looked away "HOW…? I'll talk to you in a minute. Get inside." He gestured to the house with his head.

"But, fa-"

"NOW!" He yelled, and the girl scurried away. Once she was out of view, the man turned to Madara with a melancholic expression and drew in a shuddery breath "…T-thank you… Madara-sama… I cannot…" He stopped his quivering speech and bowed more deeply than Madara had ever seen him bowing. The man remained in that same position for a good while until he, rather uncomfortably, called out to him.

"Katsuro…" He started, not sure how to finish the sentence. He didn't have to, though, as the man quickly got the hint and stood up.

"I am sorry." The peasant said in a more composed voice, rubbing his eyes "I have yet to thank you properly. You know you and Izuna-sama are always very welcome in our house. I'd like you two to have dinner with us; I give you my word that it will be the best we've ever cooked… But… if you could give us some time…"

"I see." Madara gave a curt nod "I'll talk to my brother."

"Thank you once more for going through the trouble…" Katsuro bowed his head "I don't think we'd ever be able to truly thank you for this."

"It's fine." Madara said dismissively, and as an unpleasant silence followed, he changed subject "…Ringo must be worried about Michio."

"Oh yes." The farmer smiled "As I am. But that's not an excuse for behaving so recklessly."

"Then I'm leaving." Madara jerked his head towards the forest and Katsuro nodded.

"Don't forget the dinner." He remembered politely, and Madara was spooked by how quickly he went from a crying mess to the composed man he was used to. Such a quick change was quite unsettling, and maybe he wasn't drunk after all.

The shinobi sent him a final glance before sprinting to the woods to look for Izuna.

* * *

><p>Katsuro set the last dish down and looked at his daughter, who was still sitting plopped against the wall, hugging her knees to herself.<p>

"You had to mess with everything, didn't you?" The man said, but his tone wasn't angry

"I'm sorry…" She muttered.

"It's fine." He sighed and smiled weakly at her "As long as you are well. I suppose things will work out either way. Not the way I was hoping for, but…"

"I'm sorry." She repeated, seemingly on the verge of tears "What can I do to make it up for you?"

"This is not about me." The man shook his head and crouched in front of her, putting a hand on top of her head "But if you want to make me happy, you have to make yourself happy… Learn it from a man who expected too much and became bitter." He offered her a sympathetic smile "Don't get your hopes up."

Ringo's lips quivered, and she hugged her father's neck before burying her face in his shoulder and howling with sorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeeeeeell… That was incredibly late xD But this chapter is quite long and it was difficult to write.

Though this is pretty much what I had planned for the chapter beforehand, I still think it's quite odd when put on paper (Word… whatever). This is also the first time I write about romance as more than a few pecks, so you'll have to excuse me –w– (There is more next chapter! I swear! I'll try to make it up for everything!)

Also, thanks for reading ;D


	11. Sunrise

With one hand, Ringo held the slim trunk of a young tree and bended over, hurling a foul green mass from her mouth and onto the ground. She shouldn't have eaten so much… Now that she thought about it, maybe she shouldn't have eaten at all. Or just have kept her eyes closed.

She had been feeling alright during dinner (even though her hands were unnaturally sweaty and she just couldn't bring herself to look Madara in the eyes), and considering she hadn't had lunch that day, she ate more than usually. However, as she was trying to sleep, her brain started reenacting all the past scenes of the afternoon. Tried as she might, she couldn't stop it, and in the end she had to put out everything she had eaten.

"No…" She whispered, eyeing her meal with more sadness than disgust, and kicked a few fallen leaves in a vain attempt of hiding what she just did.

Ringo pulled her hair with her free hand before vomiting again, and almost cried when she noticed that she'd never be able to hide it like this. She couldn't let them know… Father would get so worried and Madara would be so disgusted… Maybe he'd never want to kiss her again.

The girl shook her head. Was that all she was worried about? Madara didn't even have the right to be disgusted by that! He just cut up a bunch of men like it was nothing and afterwards kissed her, while his mouth was still full of blood and he was stinking like death. He had no right to complain… And Ringo slapped the trunk in anger when she remembered that that wasn't the biggest problem at hand.

She let her head fall against the tree as she took deep breaths to calm down. Now that she thought about it, it was all her fault. It wasn't like her to feel ashamed for speaking what came to her mind, but she felt that if she had just been quiet, none of that mess would have happened. She didn't know what she was supposed to do to solve things, or even if she should do anything at all. According to her father, she had done more than enough.

Shivering, she closed her eyes, wishing she had someone to share her worries.

* * *

><p>"So do we kill him or do we not kill him?" Madara asked his brother for the umpteenth time, pointing at him with his chopsticks "And give me a clear answer this time."<p>

Izuna sighed in frustration "You could try to use your brain a little bit sometimes, you know? It doesn't hurt… We… We probably shouldn't kill him."

"And that's because…?" The other raised an eyebrow.

"Look, if you want to kill the kid go ahead. I'm just saying that it wouldn't be necessary. If Takehiko's son ever tries to take control of the clan, he won't get any support if we do our job right. On the other hand, killing him would make people see you as merciless."

"And if some idiot wants to put the brat in power?" He argued.

"Unlikely. And if that does happen, we can deal with them." Madara sighed at his brother's words. "If the other clans hear you murdered a kid just to assure your position, don't you think they're going to gossip? …I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being seen as a barbarian."

The elder sibling took a deep breath and lifted his head to stare at the ceiling, thinking. He didn't spend much time worrying about Takehiko's son, though, as a new thought came to him.

"…Why is everything so quiet?" He muttered to himself.

"Hm?" Izuna swallowed his drink and turned to him "Yeah, now that you mention it…"

"Where _is_ Ringo?" Madara frowned, finally realizing the reason for the unusual calmness, and his brother's eyes widened in understanding.

"I haven't seen her all day."

Madara stood up and walked towards the girl's room. He was about to burst in, when he decided it'd be best to knock first. When no answer came, he peered inside, but found no living soul.

His next destination was Katsuro's room, which he opened unceremoniously. The farmer was inside, folding some blankets, when he looked up at the intruder.

"Ah, Madara-sama." He greeted politely "Have you finished your breakfast yet? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Ringo is gone again."

"Oh, no." The man smiled "She's in the river. She said she wanted to think."

"And you believed her?" Madara asked, and Katsuro shot him a brief but extremely hostile glance. He had grown used to the man's sinister eyes, but when Katsuro tried to seem threatening the unpleasant feeling would always come back.

"Yes. I think she's already scared of going after Michio enough."

With nothing more to say, the young man turned on his heels and walked back to the living room. He didn't go back to his seat, but instead opened the front door and stepped on the porch.

"Hey, where are you going?" Izuna asked, his voice sounding shriller than usual.

"After Ringo."

"And you aren't even inviting me?!" The boy looked absolutely shocked.

"You didn't finish your breakfast yet."

"Yeah, and neither did you!" Izuna retorted smartly, standing up "I'm coming too." Madara narrowed his eyes.

"Finish your food."

"Why is it you don't want me to come with you, huh?"

"Whatever." The eldest replied in his best uninterested tone and left the house "Do what you want."

"Hmm, grumpy." The other commented, before following his brother outside.

Madara walked across the orchard, determinate, with Izuna on his tracks.

"Wait, where are we going?" The question ringed in his ears, and his sibling's voice had seemingly acquired an annoying tone.

"To the river." He answered gruffly.

"Why?"

"Because Katsuro said she was there. Now shut up."

"Woah, you're even more irritable than usual." The youngest observed, and Madara flinched, feeling more and more angry at each word spoken. He wouldn't bother answering that.

They followed the usual path, and arrived at the river in few minutes. Just as Katsuro had said, Ringo was there. She was standing in the shallow part, the hem of her pants rolled up to her knees, and throwing small rocks in the water, not paying attention to her surroundings.

"Hey there!" Izuna shouted, and the girl jumped, splashing water everywhere.

"You scared me!" She shouted, putting a hand over her heart and trying to catch her breath, while Izuna laughed "Uh… What are you two doing here anyways?"

"Oh, that?" The youngest of the two gave her a mischievous smile, making her furrow her brows "Madara wanted to come looking for you."

Ringo's eyes widened and turned to the older brother, as her face became red as an apple. Her lips opened, closed, and opened again, as if she was trying to find something to say.

A hand connected with Izuna's head and he was pushed to the ground, landing with a painful thud.

"Shut up." Madara said darkly, looming over him "And stop making up stories."

"I'm not making anything up, you…" He stopped in midsentence once he found a foot dangerously close to his throat.

"You were saying…?" The shinobi raised a brow, and his brother grinned, brushing some hair off his face.

"Okay, I'm making stuff up. I can't help it; it's just so fun!"

Madara seemed satisfied with the answer, and offered his hand to help the other stand up.

Once they had turned around, Ringo had already walked out of the river, and was now sitting on a large rock on the shore, staring at them, expectantly.

"…What?" Madara was the first to speak, and she smiled, shaking her head.

"Nothing."

The elder shinobi rolled his eyes, while the other returned the gesture.

"So what were you doing?" Izuna asked, walking to where the girl had previously been.

"Oh, just messing with the fish." She shrugged "I got bored."

The boy kneeled down to observe the creatures swimming close to him. He was watching them peacefully, until a different glisten caught his attention.

"Hey I think I've found something golden here…" He mused out loud, cocking his head to the side.

"It's probably a golden eel." Ringo said dismissively.

"A golden…!" Izuna's excited exclamation was cut short, when something kicked him into the river, and he plunged headfirst into the water.

The boy emerged again, soaked to the bone, coughing large amounts of water and shivering.

"MADARA!" He yelled after he caught his breath again, standing up wobbly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you wanted to see the eel _closer_." The other snickered

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Izuna questioned, taking his wet bangs from his eyes. He was visibly angry, and if Madara didn't know his sibling any better he'd be scared of the glare that was being directed to him.

"If I were you I'd change those clothes before catching a cold." He replied uninterestedly

The other shot him a last dark glance, before turning around and marching all the way back to where he had come from.

Ringo furrowed her brows at Izuna's reaction, and watched as he stormed away. She only realized he had left her alone with his brother when the other was standing in front of her.

"Space." He demanded and Ringo complied, moving to the edge of the rock. She brought her legs together and tried to make herself as small as she could, so he could be comfortable. Madara, on the other hand, didn't seem to have the same concern about her, as he spread his legs wide, and even though the peasant had been shrinking away, she still felt his knees brushing against hers.

The shinobi silently unstrapped one of his pouches to examine its contents, while Ringo watched, uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat, and just then Madara's eyes narrowed dangerously. He was still looking at his belongings, so chances were he was thinking about them, but the girl couldn't help but worry that she had had some impact on his expression.

"When are you leaving?" She asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Three days." He replied, still not looking at her.

"And then are you going to… you know, the clan thing?"

"You mean takeover? No, we have to report first. Then we can start planning and looking for allies… But that could take a while."

"Oh" She breathed out, running out of things to say "Well… Hum… Good luck?" He snorted.

"I don't need luck." For a moment she was worried he would get angry at her, but on a close inspection, his face seemed more amused than annoyed.

The girl fell silent and just observed as Madara finished inspecting his pouch and then putting it back in its place. When he was finished, he looked at her, staring straight into her eyes, and Ringo turned around, remembering it had been quite some time since they had eye-contact.

"And when we go back I assume you're going to resume your ordinary country life?" He asked with a mocking undertone.

"What's wrong with that?" She mumbled

"It doesn't suit you."

The farmer turned back to him instantly, the uneasiness from before being replaced with confusion.

"What do you mean? I like it."

"I never said you didn't. But you're so loud I'd imagine you'd eventually find it boring."

"I'm not that loud!" She protested and covered her mouth at the volume of her own voice.

"You contradict yourself own your own; how convenient." He mocked "You are annoying more often than not."

"Yeah, and so are you." She rebutted unthinkingly, and immediately wished she hadn't, but she was relieved when his only response was a huff.

"Definitely not meant to be picking apples…" Madara said in a low voice, more to him than to her and Ringo shrugged, losing interest in that topic. She turned her head to the other side, and her eyes widened when she saw the glistening water, remembering something.

"Uh… Why did you push Izuna into the river?" She tilted her head to the side.

"I wanted to get away from him." He replied with a grin, and she was most surprised by the answer.

"Really? But you two are so close…"

"Exactly. We're too close. One of these days he's going to start following me into the bathroom." The girl giggled at the answer, and Madara started checking the rest of his belongings, not saying anything else. At first the stillness felt comfortable, but soon Ringo started to wonder if Madara didn't want to be completely alone – that maybe she was being a nuisance.

"So I… I guess I will stop bothering you…"

"You are not bothering me." He answered, almost too quickly, and she looked up at him, only to be disappointed when she saw he was still looking at the things in his bag.

"If you're lying as to not hurt my feelings…"

"How many times have I lied 'as to not hurt your feelings'?" He interrupted with a glare, and Ringo smiled. It was true; even when he was talking to her about Michio, he had been completely honest, even knowing the kind of effects it could have. She wondered if he cared about hurting her feelings at all…

"You seem busy." She whispered shyly.

The reply she got was not what she was expecting. Madara didn't told her to leave, nor he made some disrespectful commentary, but he muttered something and threw his pouch away, before turning to her.

"Fine. You have my full attention." He said deadpan while Ringo just gawked at him for a good whole minute "Well, aren't you fascinating?" He snickered and the girl shook her head, as if awakening from a trance.

"I just really don't get why you tried to get away from Izuna but won't mind me."

"Izuna can be a bother." He answered with a sigh, and the girl flinched when she noticed he wasn't particularly happy with that question "He's my brother, but it doesn't mean I can drag him everywhere I go."

"But you didn't kick _me_ out." She reasoned, and Madara immediately turned to her with a crooked smile. Ringo heard a thud inside her chest, and automatically bit her lower lip while shrinking her shoulders. There was something about the look he was giving her…

"Yes, and why would I _not _kick you out?" He didn't seem fazed by her reaction, and his expression remained the same.

She just gave him a sheepish smile, while mentally scolding herself for not coming up with a decent reply. Well, scolding herself as best as she could. She couldn't even muster the thoughts needed to answer him, let alone get mad at herself for that.

"You'll leave me waiting then?" He raised an eyebrow, but his grin didn't falter even once "I don't like waiting."

Ringo almost gasped when something intertwined with her hair and she was pushed forward, only to be met by a pair of lips. Even though she was forced into the kiss, she didn't try to pull away from it.

Madara wasn't being as forceful as the last time and eventually the girl found herself relaxing … that is, until he took advantage of a small gap between her lips to sneak his tongue inside. Ringo let out muffled cry of protest and tried to pull away. The shinobi complied, but moved his free hand to her lower back to keep her in place.

However, this precaution proved of little use, as Ringo directed all her weight to the right side of her body and fell down. Madara didn't have time to react, as she quickly sprung to her feet and took off running.

The girl scampered up the hill, tripping over a rock and almost falling down on her way. She was extremely happy when she regained her balance, for she didn't want to go back to the river shore again, and certainly not rolling down the slope like a ball.

After a few minutes of running, not exactly sure where to, the girl stopped. She had escaped... But escaped from what? Ringo frowned when she realized she didn't even know what she was doing. That was a completely new and scary thing, but she was sure she had overreacted. She could just have pushed him away, couldn't she? She knew he would get angry anyways, but after she had ran away from him like that…

Ringo shook her head and assessed her surroundings. She was in a part of the forest she was decently familiar with, so she'd have no troubles getting back home. And also, she wouldn't find any dangerous people there.

She let out a sigh, half of relief and half of frustration. She wished she had done something else, but she couldn't go back in time. And then, again, the worst was over. She smiled when she remembered that. She could talk to Madara later; he couldn't be so angry he would refuse to even listen, could he? She could and would solve that issue eventually… but not now.

* * *

><p>Madara stabbed his sashimi with a chopstick. Even if attempting to pierce meat with a flat piece of wood would be considered a wasteful effort by most, he was almost achieving this feat, though unconsciously. The young man really wanted to stab something, and if raw fish was the most socially acceptable thing in a radius of five feet, then so be it.<p>

He had pushed his brother into the river with solely one purpose, and since he didn't get what he wanted, it was no wonder he was rather angry. The fact that Izuna had been treating him coldly ever since didn't help either.

The sliding door was suddenly opened, and he turned to look. Upon seeing who entered the house, he glared. Ringo lowered her eyes and walked to the other side of the table, trying to stay as for from him as possible.

Madara stabbed the fish again.

"What were you doing, Rin?" Katsuro asked with a smile, shifting in his seat to give the girl more space "You've been out for quite some time."

"Just- just thinking." She replied, grinning sheepishly and sitting down.

"Well, don't exert yourself too much." He laughed warmly, before turning back to his dish.

She smiled awkwardly, and started picking food and dropping it on her plate. Meanwhile, she took a quick peek at Izuna, and, as if on cue, he looked up. His expression wasn't hostile, but there was no sign of the smile she was hoping for. The boy's blank glance didn't give her the confidence boost she had hoped for.

Tentatively, she turned to Madara, and was immensely grateful when he didn't look up from his battered meal. She was glad he didn't turn to her, but that didn't do much for her confidence either.

Lunch went by silently, and an uncomfortable atmosphere was ever so present. Izuna was the first to finish, and excused himself, going outside. Her father was the second, but he remained in the room, sitting in a corner with a parchment, ink and a brush, no doubt planning about the next crop… at least she hoped so.

Madara had already grown bored of injuring his food and started eating, albeit slowly. Once he was finished, he placed his chopsticks on the table rather forcefully and left the house without a single word. Not even once had he spared a glance at her.

Ringo felt guilty – guiltier than she knew she should. He was behaving so childishly, he had no right to do so! …but then, again, running away like she had done wasn't at all mature. She could understand that he was mad, but that… the peasant really didn't want to make up right now.

Yet…

Clutching her vest and biting her lower lip, the girl stood up hastily. She wasn't motivated to go talk to him, but she felt that that was the right time – and she wouldn't find a better opportunity.

There were just three more days before he left… left, maybe never to return again… probably never to return again. Her reason screamed at her not to pursue him, but everything else urged her to do so. But how'd she regret this…

Ringo cursed herself, from the hair rising on the back of her neck to her bones and guts, and exited.

She turned her head left and right, but no sign of Madara. She had no idea of where he went, and to make matters worse she felt as if she wouldn't ever make up with him if she didn't find him quickly.

Their camp was probably a good place to start. If he wasn't headed that way, then she had no clue where to look next.

Ringo took off in the direction of the forest, all the while muttering insults under her breath, as if hoping it would make her want to come back. Her legs still forced her to proceed.

There wasn't much left when the girl spotted who she was looking for, just walking leisurely towards where she thought he'd be.

"Madara! W-wait!"

He looked back from over his shoulders, but turned his head to the other side, as if he had looked right through her. It hurt.

"Stop!"

Ringo ran faster and bumped into his back. Once he had stopped, she wasted no time and circled him, holding his wrists in her hands, as if to keep him from moving. As if she could keep him from moving. Yet, she was hoping he would remain still, and that's what he did. When she looked up at him, he was already staring at her, so emotionlessly it made her chest pang.

"So?" The shinobi said narrowing his eyes, and she noticed that they had been like that for quite some time "What do you want?"

She turned her face away, not even sure how she should start.

Madara didn't seem to be interested in waiting, as he growled and pushed her away.

"Don't waste my time." He stormed to the campsite, but Ringo chased after, throwing her body against his to push him towards a tree and keep him from leaving.

"Wait I-!" She started, not daring to meet his eyes "I- I- I'm sorry- I… I shouldn't have run away like that… it was so rude… I didn't… That had never happened before, and I got scared… I… I didn't want to run away."

"Really, now?" He retorted mockingly, though there seemed to be a bit of anger in his words "It seemed the opposite."

"I was scared!" She yelled "That was the first time I'd ever… And I didn't want you to get mad at me…"

"It looked like I disgusted you…" The reply came in a humorless dry chuckle, making Ringo flinch, feeling even guiltier.

"No! It wasn't you! The last thing I feel towards you is disgust…"

"Hn…" There was a poignant pause before Ringo felt something lightly brushing against the top of her head and Madara spoke again "Prove it."

She finally looked up and noticed his face was almost on the level of hers and his lips curled in a small smirk.

Hesitantly, the girl laced her arms behind his neck and hoisted herself up. She planted a soft, but long kiss on his lips. She had expected him to try to get closer, but he remained still. He hadn't pushed her away, which was probably good, but his lack of response bothered her.

When Ringo pulled away, she was worried about what she would see in his eyes, and she felt relieved whit the look he was giving her, as if he was studying her reaction as well.

"Are you going to run again?" He asked, and she shook her head, only to have a hand holding her upper arm and other resting against the right side of her face, and Madara leaned much closer, closer than ever. And she didn't run.

* * *

><p>Ringo stretched her hand in front of her face unconsciously. She was in peaceful slumber, not entirely asleep but certainly not awake, when she felt something brushing against her arm. The movement was a simple reflex, but when her fingers connected with something very solid, her eyes shot open and she looked around, terrified. Upon seeing a shadow hovering above her, she opened her mouth to scream, but something blocked the sound.<p>

"Quiet."

Upon recognizing the voice, she calmed down, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, to be sure of who was in the room with her. The stranger stopped covering her mouth with his hands, and the girl sat up, staring into his eyes.

"What are you doing here?!" She whispered, pulling the covers to herself and looking around.

"I want to show you something." She could not decipher his expression, but the voice was definitely Madara's. She was worried about him creeping in her bedroom while she was still sleeping. It was too uncharacteristic of him.

"It's not even light out yet. Can't you wait until later?"

"Absolutely not." And waiting for no permissions, he tossed the girl over his shoulder, before standing up. Ringo let out a displeased grunt and picked up her cover, as she was feeling far too cold to willingly leave it behind.

"What do you want to show me so much you can't wait for a decent hour?" She yawned

"I want to show you, not talk to you about it." He replied, annoyed, walking towards the window "Now shut up; you're too loud."

"That's my house, I can do whatever-" She exclaimed, but was interrupted when her head was hit against the window frame, making her let out a small whimper "You did that on purpose…"

"So what if I did?" She could feel him smirking, and she sighed, throwing the blanket over her shoulders.

"That hurt." She complained, but her only response was a sudden movement beneath her. She figured Madara was shrugging.

Silent seconds ticked by, and feeling frustrated and on the verge of dozing off, she decided to speak, since it was clear that the shinobi had no intention of doing so.

"I can walk, you know. No need to be carrying me around."

"If you go walking you'll see it too soon." He sighed. Ringo saw they had just passed a bunch of trees, so Madara should be heading towards the forest. She wondered why…

"I mean it, where are we going?" She struggled in his grasp, which made him intensify his grip on her.

"It's a surprise~" He answered in between teeth, a mock sing-song voice.

"Then I'm just going to worm my way out…" She grumbled, trying to escape. She had no idea what she'd do if he'd actually let her fall down, and how much it'd hurt, but she didn't have much time to think it over, as her stirring seemed to trigger a reaction she wasn't expecting.

Ringo felt a torrent of blood rushing to her cheeks when she realized something had slapped her backside.

"Wh-wha… Why you…?" She murmured incoherently.

"Behave." He commanded, and she instantly went limp, worried about what could happen otherwise. "Ah, so you do learn."

Madara seemed quite pleased about having quieted her down, and though the girl felt mad, she remained silent and still. It didn't hurt, but she really wished he wouldn't do that again.

A few minutes passed before Madara finally stopped, and Ringo dared to move her head slightly to examine her surrounds. She could see a few clothes scattered on the ground and a sleeping Izuna, nuzzling his backpack and producing a comforting humming sound. He looked so peaceful that she couldn't help wishing she was still sleeping now.

"What do you want to show me?" She asked, rubbing her eyes "I want to go back to bed."

"You won't be going back to bed." He replied, setting her on the ground. The sudden change of position made Ringo stumble sideways, but she managed to catch her balance before falling down.

"Right on time" She heard Madara say, and for a moment she thought he was speaking to her, but once she turned around it became clear as to why he had brought her there. As her eyes regained focus, she realized she was staring at something she hadn't seen in months.

The orange glow surging from the horizon bathed the whole valley in a soft light. The rivers glistened like they were made of diamonds instead of water, forming a pattern that resembled tree roots. The poor villages to north looked as if they were made of gold and the hills cast shadows, growing bigger with the distance, resembling the waves at sea. The forest in the Senju territory, far to east, was surrounded by an orange light, creating a striking contrast with the trees' silhouettes. Up in the still starry sky, the clouds floated above her, unusually close, and it almost looked like she could touch the fluff if she just stretched her arms.

"Ah…" Ringo drew a shuddery breath as her lips curled into a smile "T-that… How… how did you-? I-I…"

"Such a way with words." Madara sighed, and she turned around to see him sitting in a tree log. When he tapped the space beside him, her expression brightened up even more, and she skipped to sit beside him.

"I don't…" She stopped to think of what to say next, and, giggling, shook her head "How did you know?"

"It doesn't take a genius." He snickered "You told me you used to watch the sunrise here with your brother, so _of course_ I'd figure."

"You remembered it?" Her eyes widened in disbelief, but her large grin was a sign of her exhilaration "I assumed you wouldn't care…"

"Then don't assume things about me." He smirked, only making the girl giggle again and lean against his shoulder "Did I give you permission to do that?"

"I don't know." She answered, trying to put on a straight face but only laughing more in the process.

Madara made a humming sound, which was different from his characteristic "hn's", so Ringo assumed he was content. He sneaked the arm she was leaning against around her waist and pulled her closer, making her nestle against his chest.

There was something that made Ringo feel safer than she had felt in years, or maybe ever. The chirping of the birds and other animal noises reassured her that the forest was safe, while Izuna's breathing reminded her of her brother, whose snoring sounds always lulled her back to sleep after a nightmare. Madara's warmth and heartbeat awakened a much older memory, of when she was so small her mother could carry her with ease and hug her so close she felt she would disappear in the embrace. And there was something she felt coming from the valley, as if it was being carried by the wind that she could not describe, but it was just… right. As if all the stars were on her favor and as if nothing bad existed – as if nothing besides that existed. For all that, she wished that that moment would drag for eternity. She was sure she'd never find such peace again, at least not the _exact same_ peace.

However, her companion didn't seem to share of her opinion fully, as he spoke, shattering that sliver of perfection into tiny little pieces.

"What do you think of there?" He indicated the immeasurable forest much ahead of them, in the rival clan's territory.

"…It looks pretty." She answered simply, after regaining her thoughts.

"Hm." Madara smiled at her, and under the dawn light she couldn't avoid noticing how nice his features were, something she prided herself in usually ignoring "Would you like to go there?"

"What?" The girl looked up startled "What are saying? There are Senju there! I'm not going!"

"And I commend you for that answer, but say there weren't."

"I…" Ringo furrowed her brows "I guess I would. It's much bigger than ours."

"How long?"

"How long what?" She was getting quite irritated with those cryptic questions.

"How long do you give me to take the Senju out of there." He chuckled at her now open mouth "Watch out; your jaw is going to fall."

"You are kidding me." Ringo glared

"No." His smirk grew larger, making the peasant feel as if she was being mocked "Give me a number."

"Any?"

"Of course not." That seemed to annoy him "If you say you want me to get rid of them in two seconds I'll punch you. Be sensible at least."

She gave him a doubtful glance before looking straight ahead. She could not believe he was being serious about something like that, but she also had no idea what his true reasons to say something like that were.

"I want…" She roamed the non-ending sea of trees, feeling a sudden desire to explore all its length "Seven years."

"Deal." He replied with no signs of hesitance, offering his left hand for her to shake. "In seven years, that will not be the Senju's land anymore."

"I'll hold you to that." She grinned sheepishly "But what if you fail?"

"Fail?" He snorted "Unlikely. And if you actually want to see those lands you'd better hope I succeed."

Succeed… That reminded her of something.

"You'll do that after you become the clan leader, right?"

"Yes, it would be a little hard to wipe a whole clan by myself." He snickered.

"That's not what I meant." She shifted uncomfortably "Is that… When you are leader, I… And even now…"

"You need to work on your rhetoric." He said, holding both her shoulders and turning her towards him "Speak clearly."

"You…" She bit her bottom lip and looked down "You are leaving… You are leaving to the stronghold today, and you are going to do whatever it is you have to do to become leader, and then you'll have to go to wars, have reunions and I don't know what else, so what's the point…?" She took a deep breath "You are going to have so many things to do and be so far away… It's not like if you take those lands it'll be of any difference, because you won't rub it on my face like you should… You won't even care if I…"

Ringo had let out more than she had intended to. It was a worry that she had been brooding over for the past few days, and that she suspected Madara would find foolish, but she felt as if her heart was being squeezed every time she thought about it. She knew he'd be too busy to look for her – and why would he ever want to? He'd meet other girls; prettier, smarter, and more interesting than her, and certainly some of them would be strong kunoichi. And even if that was not the case, he'd have to live in the clan compound, while she knew she couldn't leave her home. She'd never see him again, it was logical, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to give up hope.

"Do you really think you're going to get away from me that easy?" He replied with a growing smirk, making she stare at him, eyes large and mouth agape "You say you don't want me to call you stupid, but sometimes you make it really hard for me not to."

"I don't…" She started, but the young man interrupted with a kiss, which she promptly responded.

"Yes, I agree; you don't ever shut up." He said after pulling away, but then his tone became more serious "I don't pretend to_ like_ things, and I don't give up on the things I like."

"So…" She shook her head in confusion "You… You are not going to forget about me?"

"I don't think I would be able even if I wanted to." The peasant sighed in relief. Seeing him taking that situation so lightly made her feel as if a weight was being pulled from her chest.

"Are going to come see me again?!" Madara raised a questioning eyebrow at her, making her smile brightly.

"But it won't be for anytime soon." He drawled, sliding one of his hands from the girl's shoulder to her waist "And as you said, I'm leaving today…"

She didn't need to be given anymore hints, and as he bended to her level brushing his lips against hers, she locked her hands behind his neck and closed the space between them.

The kiss started as a peck, much like the previous one, but it soon grew deeper, as Madara pulled her towards him.

Though they had kissed a number of times, Ringo frequently found her limbs going stiff for no good reason when he touched her, and she always felt like he was doing all the work. She wondered if it was just her fear of doing something wrong or if Madara could simply shut down certain parts of her brain.

She snapped back to reality when she felt something stroking her lips, and she parted them to grant him entrance. Just then she realized the position she was in. The shinobi had pulled her so close that their chests were skimming against each other and her legs were hanging at his sides uncomfortably, hovering millimeters above his. They didn't seem like they would budge.

Ringo slowly slid her hands from Madara's neck to his back, and with what she felt was inhuman strength, lowered her legs until they were hugging him. Taking that as a permission to go further, the other entangled his fingers in her hair to bring her even closer.

Before they had to part for air, a sound made them freeze on the spot. Something grazing the ground. A heavy breath.

The pair watched Izuna from the corner of their eyes, unmoving, and so close to one another, it wouldn't be surprising if someone watching from afar thought they were the same thing. The boy tossed and turned, mumbling a chain of nonsenses. The girl's heart started racing and her breath hitched in her throat when his eyes opened just a crack. Izuna's sleepy expression gave away nothing; it was as if he was staring right through them. After five seconds that felt like five minutes, the boy closed his eyes and turned to the other side.

They only dared to move once they were sure Izuna was asleep. Madara removed his hands from the girl, allowing her to pull away and cross her arms over her chest.

"I-I…" She staggered "Should we wake him up?"

"Why?" A deep wrinkle formed on Madara's nose as he looked at her condescendingly.

"You two are leaving today. I wanted to spend some time with Izuna too." That answer made the other sigh deeply and shake his head.

"You don't know what you're saying."

"He's my friend!" She protested

"And he's my brother. Therefore, I will have to deal with his shenanigans for the rest of my life." He turned his face to the valley with a small grimace "I can waste my time with him whenever I feel like it; you are a different story."

Ringo furrowed her brows. That made she think of Michio.

"Hm…" She started, trying to think of something to say that would have nothing to do with siblings. She felt that if she reprimanded Madara he would only get mad at her. When she came up with something, a mischievous grin spread across her face "So you're going to miss me?"

She felt a fist being pressed against the top of her head, and she moaned, displeased.

"You like to test your luck, don't you?" He asked with a twisted smile, scrubbing her scalp with his knuckles, making the girl yelp. She pushed his hand away and rubbed the spot, pouting.

A loud snore made the two turn their heads sharply at the sleeping boy, who kicked around and murmured something about plums before calming down again. Ringo inhaled slowly.

"I think we should leave…"

"Maybe we should." Madara quickly scanned his brother sleeping form, before standing up "Even though Izuna could probably sleep over an earthquake."

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that this is enough?" Katsuro asked, lifting Izuna' backpack. If the way his bony hands trembled didn't state anything about the weight, nothing else would.<p>

"No, it's alright!" The younger boy replied hastily, shaking his hands in front his face "I'm sure we have enough food already. It's just a day of travel, anyway."

"I'd say you can never be too careful, but if you think it's fine…"

"Cra-ap…" Ringo muttered, holding another bag with both hands.

"Ringo, language." Her father warned seriously, and she dropped the object on the table.

"It's just that it's too heavy… This is going to give them back problems or something."

"I'm sure they have dealt with heavy weights before."

"But for a whole day?" She asked, widening her eyes before sighing "And you gave them too much food, they're going to get fat! Look at Madara; he's already halfway to it!"

At the mention of his name, Madara glared at the girl from the corner of his eyes, making her laugh nervously.

"You really must be leaving today?" Katsuro handed the bag to Izuna, looking as if he was eager to get rid of the weight.

"We do." The boy smiled apologetically "We should report as soon as we can. And besides…"

"I know." The man chuckled and shook his head "Duties, duties. There is a job I think would never suit me…" After a short pause, he smiled "Maybe we'll meet again, this world is curious."

"I surely hope so." Izuna returned the expression, towing his belongings over his shoulder "Madara, ready to go?"

The older brother nodded and grabbed his bag as well.

"Father, Can I go with them until the village?" Ringo asked.

"Of course, as long as they don't mind it." The farmer turned to the two shinobi, and seeing no sign of protest, nodded to his daughter "On a second thought, Asuka passed by here just yesterday, looking for you, but you weren't home. Since you'll be going to the village, you may want to pay her a visit?"

"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, with wide eyes and blushing cheeks. She told her father she wanted to go the plain fields, but she didn't tell him she was going with Madara. She suspected he wouldn't be too happy about that. "I'll go see her, then! D-did she say what she came for?"

"No, I believe she just wanted to talk to you… You should get going; it doesn't look like they are going to wait for you!"

Ringo whipped her head around to see Izuna and Madara in front of the exit, staring at her, the former with a confused smile and the latter with a bored expression. She stood up and stumbled towards them.

"I'll pray that you have a safe trip" Katsuro said, bowing his head lightly "And wish you the best. "

There was an unusual happy glint in the man's eyes, and the brothers found it hard to imagine how they thought there was something wrong with him at first.

"We wish you the same" Izuna replied, waving, while his brother jerked his head and smirked in acknowledgment.

"Later~" Ringo sang cheerfully, leaving after the boys and closing the door behind her.

All they left was silence. Katsuro didn't like the silence. It was something he had left long behind him, and he was not used to it anymore.

He walked over to a window, opening it to let the sun light and chirping of the birds in. He leaned against the sill, watching as the three walked towards the forest, not sparing a single glance back to the house. The scene made his heart thud painfully, as if it wanted to burst from his chest. He rubbed the corner of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, letting his head hang to the side.

He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could only hope that Ringo's friend would keep her busy for a long time.

* * *

><p>As the village gates became visible, Ringo's tone started dropping to the point of being inaudible. They had gotten there too soon…<p>

"Hm?" Izuna stopped and eyes her curiously, before smiling "Then I guess this is farewell?"

"What? Oh, Yes…" Her shoulders dropped and she looked down, but quickly snapped her head back when she heard a warm laughter.

"I'm just kidding! Actually, I'm sure we'll meet again; I have a feeling we will."

"Me too. I… No, I know we will meet again." The girl nodded firmly.

"That's the spirit!" He grinned in response

Ringo turned around to say goodbye to the one person she didn't want to part from at the moment. Unlike what she was expecting, he had a smirk on his face.

"Hum…" She cleared her throat, diverting her eyes to the left "Good luck with… your clan leader thing. I hope you do succeed."

"We will succeed, and your good luck wish will have nothing to do with it." Madara said slowly, as if explaining a concept to a child who was particularly stubborn about not grasping it.

"Well… I already wished it, so too late." She joked, sticking her tongue out.

Ringo didn't know what his reaction to that would be, but she expected something different from the emotionless stare he sent her. After a few seconds of disappointing silence, she felt something grabbing her by the back of her head and pulling her forward. Her breath was stolen when something crashed against her lips. It took her sometime to realize that Madara was kissing her, and when she finally did, her instinct was to push him away. They had never talked about keeping what was between them a secret, but she thought he didn't want his brother to know about it, so she was rather surprised by his actions.

The young man furrowed his brows and grunted in disapproval. Figuring he didn't care about who was witnessing it, Ringo placed her hands on either sides of his face and started responding to the kiss. Madara slid his fingers to the back of the girl's head to her shoulder and set his free hand on her waist.

It wasn't a peck, but it also wasn't the most heated they had shared, and she thought it was the nicest one yet. She guessed it was how he wanted to say goodbye, and that was fine with her. Ringo liked the kiss, even though it ended too soon.

"My neck is killing me." Madara remarked with a crooked grin "Why must you be so short?"

"I'm not short, I'm fourteen!" She complained, lightly slapping his arm.

"I see no difference." He leaned in closer until their noses touched, and Ringo closed her eyes and parted her lips, thinking he would kiss her again.

"Oh-!" Someone exclaimed, and they both turned around to see Izuna gawking at them "Oh! I… I get it…"

"You get nothing." The older sibling walked towards him, grabbing him by his collar and pulling him along the road.

"I am going to miss you two!" Ringo yelled waving her hand frantically, making the brothers look back.

"We'll meet again!" Izuna reassured, cupping his hand around his mouth.

"Just be patient." Madara told her.

"Don't you dare forget about me!" She screeched, making him roll his eyes at her.

Ringo watched as the two walked away and disappeared in a turn of the road. She stood there for a few more seconds smiling to herself, before turning around and sprinting towards her friend's house, swerving from unprepared villagers and feeling blissful all the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh… I feel like I should have considered looking for a beta-reader before starting with this story

Now, I'd like you all to read the author notes, please. They're pretty important, actually…

First of all, let's pretend this story is fancy, and it will have multiple endings. Chapters elven (this one :D), twelve and the epilogue will all be in sequence, but you can decide which one you like best. But of course, chapter twelve is a continuation of chapter eleven and the epilogue is a continuation of both. So… yeah, you can decide how the story ends for you.

Second, about the delay…. I'll not bore you with all my reasons to have taken .long (because I do have them) but I also know that I could have uploaded it earlier if I weren't so lazy. I won't pretend to be noble. Anyways, don't expect me to update again soon – I might, but don't be surprised if I take months. There's not much left of the story, but the last chapters will be long, and I need to find out how to balance my duties with my free time.

On an irrelevant note: SCREW KISSING! WHY DO PEOPLE EVEN DO THAT; IT'S SO GROSS! AAAARGH…! *huffing in frustration* this chapter main objective was to be fluff and show Madara's and Ringo's (I'll never call her Rin again, btw) relationship but I feel I did too much and it ended up stupid. After this story I think I'll never write things like that again…


	12. Open Wounds

**N/A:** In the beggining of the chapter, because this had to be done now. No, I'm not dead. There is another chapter before this is all over and done.

And I warned you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A dust cloud rose from the soil, its particles forming a thick drapery that made seeing through it impossible, as well as crossing it without getting blinded by the dirt.

"Hng." Izuna groaned, using his sleeves to rub his eyes "Country roads are so bothersome."

"You mean to tell me there is such a thing as an 'enjoyable road'?" Madara questioned, eyeing the dust with suspicion. He was glad he had chosen to lag behind, instead of walking side by side with his brother. Using Izuna as a scout to avoid grains of sand had been working very well so far.

"I wasn't saying that, but…" Izuna paused to cover his eyelids with his hands and hiss "On that matter, I quite like the road to Sei-an. The less traveled one, that is."

"I'd call that a trail, but suit yourself."

"Wait, doesn't a trail count as a road?" Izuna turned back with a questioning grin.

"A road and a trail are both paths, but it doesn't-"

Izuna's voice rang in a warning cry, but his words were lost. As soon as Madara caught the familiar glimmer of metal flying towards his jugular his eyes widened. He was able to dodge the blade, but didn't have time to escape the chain that was connected to it and fell on his back.

Grunting, he pulled the weight out of his neck and stood up to search for the attacker. He was met by the image of his brother skidding backwards, arms crossed and teeth gritted. Was it possible that they were being ambushed?

"Izuna, what happened?" He asked, just as soon as the other came to a stop.

"Someone kicked me, but the dust didn't let me see who it was." The youngest sibling replied, staring at the haze with narrowed eyes and a guarded position.

Madara rolled the handle of the weapon in between his fingers. It was a sickle, too big to be used as anything but a weapon. The handle shined like new and the blade seemed sharp enough to cut through stones. The shinobi chuckled when he saw a familiar emblem engraved in the metal plate.

"Take a look at this." He raised the tool to his eye-level and Izuna's expression became graver when he noticed the symbol.

"Some people sure have one track minds." The other turned back to the dying dust cloud where silhouettes could now be seen.

"I'd give the idiots some credit for determination." Madara commented, his eyes shining red and assuming a devilish glisten "That's twelve dead Shirohae. A six to one ratio; how does that sound?"

"Sounds like a bore."

The older brother smirked and pulled out his war fan. Any self-respecting shinobi knew that the ability to use the environment to his favor would aid his chances to victory, and coming to the resolve that dirty country roads had to serve for something other than an annoyance, he channeled his chakra to the weapon and hit it against the ground with all his might, making the soil reverberate with the force of a small explosion and lifting all the dust from the ground. To most people it would be impossible to see an inch ahead of them, but due to his Sharingan Madara could see the exact location of all of his opponents, and just how shaky his move had left them.

Madara memorized the position of his opponents and closed his eyes before leaping into the cloud and towards the man that was closest to him, and after a silent landing he stretched his arm and tilted his wrist lightly, using the sickle to slash the place he knew someone's neck would be. He had no prior experience with the weapon, so the cut wasn't as deep as he'd like, but from the bloodcurdling scream he heard it was safe to assume the man he had injured wouldn't live through it.

The noise attracted attention, and instantly three other men jumped in his direction to attack. Yet, he clearly had the advantage – and that was no fun. He would soon regret creating that distraction if the battle didn't pick up. Though the Shirohae were all trained shinobi and outnumbered him and his brother, they weren't strong or numerous enough to even make them sweat.

The first and second ones didn't come close enough, but the young man had to block the third enemy's forearm to not be hit, and that alerted the others. One man swung his hammer, aiming directly at his head, and Madara ducked, dropping the sickle to unsheathe his blade and slash the man's leg. At that point he had figured that defense wasn't their expertise. They were talented when it came to smashing things and creating stone barriers, but should anyone break through their shields, they'd be as unarmed as newborns. Getting through their barriers was not too difficult, and he exceled at close-range combat. In fact, Madara could say there weren't many things he didn't excel at. He was a polymath.

His opponent fell to the ground with a screech, and he quickly cut his throat. He dodged the flat part of a hammer that was about to hit his head, but didn't escape the blow that was directed at his back and tumbled forward. At that point the dust was already beginning to settle.

Izuna had already taken down one of his opponents, and was just kneeing another in the stomach, when he locked eyes with him. He mouthed the words "prisoner" and Madara didn't have to pause to think about what he meant. It was strange that the Shirohae would send another squad after the scout team had failed, and despite his desire to annihilate the bastards, he knew that they should interrogate at least one of the shinobi.

He turned his attention back to the fight. One of the opponents was forming a couple of hand seals that seemed familiar, and he quickly used his Sharingan to copy the jutsu. If it was what he was thinking, that technique could be useful later on.

The earth trembled beneath his feet, and he moved out of the road just before it cracked and split in two, creating a hole in the ground and making sturdy stone spikes grow from it.

Another rumble was heard, and Madara felt himself being propelled towards the gap and he was pushed down it, landing in one of the spikes. He noticed the same thing had happened to his brother, and that the walls were starting to close in on them.

They jumped out of the hole, and with the advantage of being higher than ground-level they surveyed the area. Nine men were still alive (or at least, not on the verge of death) and positioned in different places, staring at them with determination. Madara cocked an eyebrow when he realized that they were there with the sole intention of killing him and Izuna. The Shirohae had never been known for being vindictive, especially if they had lost only one squadron.

The brothers started forming hand seals simultaneously, before emitting each a ball of fire from their mouths. Though Madara's was directed towards the shinobi below them, Izuna's seemed to be aimed too close to the forest. When he saw the smoke rise and cover the road he understood what he was doing. The smoke wasn't so low that they'd be forced to crawl on the ground, but the enormous Shirohae would have to assume very uncomfortable positions to avoid inhaling the smoke.

They were close to the ground when the earth rumbled, and large spikes emerged from the smoke. Madara barely had time to swerve the sharp edge, landing on the flat part, when a fist almost hit him in face. He grabbed his attacker's wrist and tried to yank him and toss him up, but because of his uncomfortable position and the man's mass, he couldn't throw him far.

Madara jumped off of the spike and onto the land, examining the battleground. It seemed someone had used the same ninjutsu he had seen in his fight against the other Shirohae squad.

Another fist came into collision course with his head, but he dodged it on time, and the other man hit the stone stake instead, breaking it.

Something inside Madara made him feel sour. That was too easy, and he didn't feel like going light on those men just for sport's sake. In most cases he would have been thrilled about the opportunity of a fight, even if one that didn't require all of his skills, but now he only wanted to get that over with.

He hauled the man up and threw him at the broken stake, before jumping backwards to assess his situation.

His brother had killed another of their opponents, and he didn't seem like he was in the mood to play either. However, they still needed to capture one of the Shirohae for investigation. He was sure none of the men would give up information (even if threatened), but he could easily use his Sharingan to draw the truth out of them. One of the counter effects was that the victim would be killed, but that had little importance – he didn't plan on leaving survivors.

He could use one of his eyes techniques and get that over with in a second, but gambling with his vision just to defeat some shinobi who were not on his level was a brash decision. He'd just have to do things the old fashioned way.

The Shirohae seemed to have realized that using short range techniques wouldn't work easily against them, because now they appeared to be set in using ninjutsu.

The ground rumbled once more and diagonal stone slabs grew from the ground, closing in on them. However, the jutsu was slow and the brothers had no difficulty jumping upwards to escape the trap.

Standing on the ledge, he could see the remaining eight enemies and think of a way to eliminate as many of them as possible in one strike, but Izuna seemed to have him covered.

He threw a fuuma shuriken in the general direction of their opponents, but missed completely, and the weapon passed behind some trees before it came flying back, almost cutting Izuna's neck, and landing just behind the fence on the other side of the road.

Though that looked like a badly executed attack, Madara knew the purpose behind his brother's actions, and was even impressed by his precision.

The older sibling jumped to the ground, engaging the closest man in a taijutsu combat, but ending it quickly. He threw a couple of shurikens towards the group and the projectiles hit the trees behind them.

Feigning annoyance, he scoffed and flung one of his own fuuma shuriken, as if he meant to hit one of the men, but the weapon came back to his hand humming.

The Shirohae he had been fighting against came back to attack him, and as Madara had not been expecting the assault, he was now genuinely irritated.

The man was swinging his hammer at him, leaving an opening only an idiot wouldn't be able to break. He wondered how a clan with such amateurs for ninja could have the reputation the Shirohae had.

He ducked underneath the man's arms, focusing a good part of his chakra on his free hand, and with his fingers positioned in the shape of a spear, struck.

The shinobi stopped and dropped his weapon. His mouth opened and he let out a sigh, before collapsing, a large gap in his chest.

Madara looked down at his hand with a frown. It was far too bloody. The muscles in his arm felt sore, but that was to be expected. It was slightly better than the only other time he had used that technique.

He watched as his brother hurled a couple more shurikens towards the forest, examining the battleground before nodding approvingly.

"Ready."

At the permission to put the plan into action, Madara smirked, pulling the strings attached to the weapons he had thrown and giving a step back, as Izuna did the same.

Five of the Shirohae had been caught in the trap, and they were all pulled towards its center, firmly pressed against one another.

The Uchiha tied the strings to their belts single-handedly, and formed the seals to a fire jutsu, creating each a large fireball that burned the five men to a crisp.

"Two more." Izuna noted, untying the threads. In spite of what had just happened, his face didn't betray any feelings.

"Two?" Madara turned back to him with a crooked grin "They look all dead to me."

His brother nodded, before jumping down to his level.

"I take the one in the right." He spoke lazily eying the remaining shinobi. They seemed worried, but not so much they'd attempt to run away or reveal their secrets. Though this bravery was something the brothers usually admired on their opponents, it would take them less time if the men just spilled their beans.

Madara didn't have to be told twice, and charged towards the man on the left, who used more ninjutsu to try to keep him at bay. The techniques he was using seemed fairly powerful, and served as both defense and offense, but were too slow to pose a threat to Madara, who continued to advance in spite of the obstacles.

Izuna turned his attention to the last Shirohae, who let his shoulders drop upon meeting his gaze. It almost looked like he was sighing, and Izuna would have been amused had the circumstances been different.

"You can just tell us the reason for this ambush, you know." He offered, solicit, but the man only shook his head.

"You would kill me anyway."

"Yes… but it could be less painful."

The man shook his head once again, making Izuna feel sick all of the sudden. It wasn't rare for him to think that he and an opponent could have been on friendly terms if they weren't in opposite sides of the battlefield.

"Izuna, no making friends with your enemies." His brother wiped his head back and reminded him, annoyance audible in his voice.

_Well, he'd know._

Izuna advanced towards the Shirohae, jumping over him, but the man swerved just in time. As he went for another blow, the other dodged again, but didn't attempt to strike back. The boy raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was trying to make him tired. It wasn't a wholly bad plan, as he knew the Shirohae had a good amount of chakra, maybe even as much as the Uchiha, but he wouldn't wait to test that out. He would make him stop being on the defensive.

The youngest shinobi unsheathed his blade and struck, forcing the man to block his blows rather than just dodge them, and it didn't take long for him to get distracted and look him in the eyes.

Izuna had the man caught in a genjutsu, and he was about to use it to rake through his memories when he was interrupted. He felt something pulling his opponent away, and looked up to see his brother grasping his shoulder. He severed the man's head with a mechanic movement and pushed the body down.

"What?" Izuna asked inspecting the other suspiciously. His expression was completely blank, and he only stared back at him, making no attempt to answer. It scared him a little "Weren't we going to interrogate them?"

"I got all I wanted from the other one." He turned around and started walking in the direction they came from "We're going back."

"Wait… what?" Izuna didn't move an inch "Why?"

Madara turned around and paused for a long time before speaking.

"They were here to kill us." His voice was emotionless "The squad I killed before was here for that too. The shirohae wanted to expand to south, and thought our clan would be an easy target…" He breathed deeply before continuing "They were going to declare war on the Uchiha when things became really bad, but _some man_ stumbled upon a scouting group one day and told them about us, about our plan."

The youngest sibling paled and his eyes widened. It took him much longer than usually to process the information he had just received.

If the Shirohae knew about them… if _some man_ had told them… That person could only be-

"How do we send them a message?" Madara's voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Who?" Izuna asked, his voice shaky and his brows furrowed in a mixture of pain and disbelief.

"Everyone. The Shirohae; those traitors; anyone who goes against us."

"Do…" The boy paused, staring at the mess they had left on the road. It was a gruesome sight by itself, and he didn't know what else could be done to _send a message_ "Put the bodies somewhere, leave some signs, I don't know. The Shirohae will probably want to talk to Katsuro again soon, we can just tell him to do it then."

Mentioning the farmer's name felt almost like a bucket of cold water had been dropped on him (which Izuna was no strange to). He didn't want to have to say it, but he knew that, sooner or later, either him or Madara would have to acknowledge that fact. He would much rather it was him.

"Then let's go." Madara turned around again, walking with firm steps. He looked much too confident, and that worried Izuna.

The shinobi stepped over the last of their enemies and followed his brother, leaving behind a trail of smoke and blood.

* * *

><p>The man did not show any sign of emotion. Not when the door was thorn open, not when the sound of heavy steps clacking against the wooden floor approached, and not when two pairs of blazing red eyes looked down on him with – was it hatred? He assumed so, though he couldn't be sure. He had never seen the fearsome Sharingan before, only heard of it through conversations of other men in the village, and the one time when, between apologies, his late wife tried to explain what it was like. He wasn't surprised in the least when he came to the conclusion that she had lied.<p>

"Madara, Izuna." Katsuro greeted with a jerk of his head, intentionally dropping the suffixes "Not-so-long no see."

"It's funny." The farmer watched as the older sibling crossed his bloodied arms and mused out loud "Just a few days after killing a squad of the Shirohae we are met with another batch. They were a little too well informed."

"Yes, they did seem quite the babblers ." The man replied casually, and just as he was finished with the sentence, he was picked up by his collar and shoved against the nearest wall. A bundle formed in his throat and his cheeks inflated, for a moment making it look like he was about to barf, but that expression was soon replaced by a blank stare.

"Do you have a death wish?" Madara hissed slowly, pressing the man harder against the surface.

"Whatever it is" Izuna started. Katsuro could not see his expression, but his tone seemed cautious "I'd like to know why. You sold us out- no, you sold all the clan to the Shirohae. I… it's unconceivable. So why?"

"Why?" A small smile graced the man's features as he looked down at the hand that was hoisting him up "I don't think you'd care for the full version. The short answer is… simply because I hate you."

The scene was frozen in time. None moved a muscle, and even the sounds of the forest surrounding the house seemed to cease. Everything was dead still.

The corner of Madara's lips curled upwards with a slight twitch, and he reinforced his grip on Katsuro's clothes, pressing his knuckles against the man's throat and causing a dry sound to escape his lips.

"The feeling is mutual."

Katsuro's wide eyes rolled upwards and he made a muffled sound, as if trying to speak, and the younger Uchiha eased some of the pressure.

"Yet-" He started weakly "I don't say I hate you as in you and your brother. I lost track of the people I hate. I hate ninja. All of them, every single one of them…" And he shook his head, not meeting their gazes "But most of all, I hate Uchiha ninja. Were you two civilians, I wouldn't hate you. "

"Lies." Madara shoved the peasant against the wall again, lifting him centimeters above the ground. He was light as a feather. "You claim you hate Uchiha and yet you offered us food and a bed. Confess: you sided with the Shirohae because they offered you money."

"Oh, yes, _Madara-chan_, your understanding of the human mind is astonishing." He remarked, poison dripping from his tone, and the young man's eyes narrowed even more at his insolence "And why would I lie about that? Would anything I say make you _have mercy_ on me? If I dropped on my knees and said that I was forced and begged not to be killed, would that be any better?" Katsuro retorted, before chuckling and tossing his head back "No… You - _you_ have earned my hatred through your own merit. I'm merely happy to be able to pull this out of my chest."

"Then what? Did you have an agreement with them from the very beginning?"

"No, of course not." The other shook his head "I had no way of knowing they wanted anything with this godforsaken land. You see, I said you could have the apple because I have dealt with ninja protecting the frontier before. They are never too strong, but always able to spit out a little ball of fire if you displease them. When you told me your name I knew I had to be _nicer_ to you. None of the brats moping in the forest and staring into the distance like dead fish would dare get close to Ringo and I if you were here, and, besides, maybe you knew something about Michio. Or do you truly think my daughter would deny a single apple to a starving person? Or that she did not notice you were a shinobi? I told her to be wary of ninja; though I think she didn't take my advice the way I intended."

Madara's cold gaze transfigured into a terrifying frown and he pushed the man higher up the wall "Does she know that? Does she know how you backstabbed us?"

"No." Katsuro answered blankly, not flinching in the slightest at his attacker's twisted expression "I would not put Ringo in such danger, which is more than I can say about you."

"And when have I put her in danger? Care to remind me?"

"The very moment you decided you'd rather shatter her heart rather than just disappoint her." When he received no answer he started ranting "Please, boy, don't tell me you think I'm stupid? Or blind? Do you think I don't know what you two have been doing behind my back? I know my daughter…"

"_When have I put her in danger_?" Madara repeated, lingering in each word.

"When you fueled her… little crush." Katsuro's nose wrinkled when he pronounced these words, as if they disgusted him "I saw how she started looking at you. You didn't even pay her any mind at first, but then you started to look at her too…" The man's voice cracked and he looked away "You made her believe you'd come back for her, you allowed her to plan a future with you… Is it not cruel to feed a girl's hope when you'll just crush them afterwards?"

"I think you are mistaking the things I'll crush, old man." Madara smiled almost merrily "Your skull or your balls, I'll let you choose."

"Go ahead and crush them both, nice and flat, just like my soul." The farmer replied on the spot.

Madara's eyes darkened and his free hand balled into a fist, but his brother spoke before he could take any action.

"Ringo isn't your daughter, is she?"

Both men's eyes widened and they turned to look at Izuna, but while his brother maintained the surprised expression for some time, Katsuro's face soon changed from shock to interest, as he watched the other intently.

"Cunning." He remarked "Very cunning. But I suppose that could be expected from you."

"Just tell us why you did what you did, Katsuro." The boy shook his head "I do not care for empty compliments."

"All compliments are empty, I believe. But how _did_ you find out?"

"Don't change the subject." Madara spoke coldly, joining the conversation after he got through his initial shock "Does she know that?"

"No."

"And who are her real parents?"

"Now, that's some interest you have in her." The peasant grinned "If Ringo was here, I'm sure she'd be quite embarrass-" His speech was cut short when he received a punch to the stomach and let out a small whimper.

"Won't you answer the question?" The shinobi had a smirk on his lips "It seems that you are the one who's embarrassed."

"And what man wouldn't?" Katsuro sighed and his expression gravened "She is my wife's daughter, but I'm not her father. Well, 'father'" He chuckled dryly "I'm more of a father than that man could ever be, but I suppose that's beside the point."

The room was silent, and as none of the siblings seemed to be about to speak, the farmer decided he should.

"Do you really want to know why I hate ninja? It's a rather long story."

"Not to worry." Madara spoke with an uncharacteristically soft voice "We are already late."

With that, he let go of the man, who fell down on his rear.

"Heh, well…" Katsuro started, swaying from one side to the other, as if looking for a comfortable position "I had an older sister. I never got to meet her, as she died some time before I was born. She was three then, I think. The story, as I heard, is that she was a loud child who decided to ask questions to a not very patient shinobi. Killing a peasant, even if a toddler, wasn't much frowned upon at that time, so the man had nothing to fear… but my parents were inconsolable. They had never been the most popular people in the village, as they used to cause some mischief when they were younger, and the incident didn't change them for the better. My mother started drinking and gossiping, spewing lies about her neighbors and such. My father – and now that I think about it, you remind me of him somewhat –" He turned to Madara while saying that "took up the old habit of looking for fights."

"When I was twelve a neighbor told me that a few months after my sister died my father came home from work, saying he needed to relieve some stress. My mother said no, but he would have none of it. Eight months later, even after all the sake she drank, I was born premature." He smiled, but it did not quite reach his eyes "I suppose that could make a decent joke."

"After me, there came a girl and twin boys. My parents had little interest in taking care of them, so I took the responsibility upon myself." He paused to take a deep breath and blink a few times before giving a shaky grin "I didn't do very well, though. My sister fell down a well when she was eight and one of my brothers was stricken by some disease when he was four. The youngest was the only who survived through infancy, and when he was fourteen he hoped in some merchant's cart, and I haven't heard of him since."

He paused and, looking down at his hands, frowned. It was as if he had forgotten there were other people in the room and was just telling his past to make sense of it "My father was a strong man, and every time he chose to beat someone up, none would stay in his way. Then one day he ended up killing someone, and that didn't fare very well with the rest of the village. A group of man ganged up on him and killed him, and I think I was thirteen at the time." Katsuro shrugged "I didn't miss him much, only the little money he brought home. The problem was that then I had more work to do, especially with the condition the village was in."

"Back at the time this area and other villages nearby were under constant attack. The rival clans would burn our plantations and poison our wells, attack the ones who provided supplies; smart, really. Our people died by the tens each week." He smiled again "Some shinobi would be sent here once in a while to try and catch any enemies, but they never helped much."

Then Katsuro's eyes softened and glistened "That was when I met Tsuyu. I was pestering her little brother one day and she gave me one hell of a scolding." He chuckled "I was a despicable brat back then, with nothing better to do but make others' lives hell, so out of boredom rather than guilt, I offered to help in her family's orchard. Her relatives were against it, but she and her father insisted, for reasons I never got to know." The man looked to one of the corners of the room, and remained like this for a few seconds before resuming with his tale "A few months later they took my brother and I in and we left our mother. My brother would visit her sometimes, but I'd never bother. My wife's parents were the closest thing I had for real parents and that sufficed me."

"Tsuyu and I got married when we were twenty one, and the plague came not much after, killing most of the crops. There was less food and the demands were always constant, but we remained positive. There was too much work to bother with sadness. And around that time" His lips quivered "Michio was born. I was so happy…"

"Six years later the dam broke." Katsuro's voice darkened "My mother and brother in law were in town that day. We only managed to find the bodies two hours later."

"One year later, there came another group of shinobi… And I was stupid!" At that point the man started shouting, as he hit his fists against the floor and sniffed, his puffy eyes staring at nothingness "I thought they were all like the rest; just some nuisances who thought they knew how to take care of things, but I should have known better."

"One of them started showing up in the orchard. I tried to send him away in the most polite way I could, but he was stubborn and Tsuyu invited him in." This time he gave a shrill laughter and shook his head "In more ways than one, that's for sure! And Michio adored him. That bastard would play with my son, and teach him how to fight and say he had the potential to be a good shinobi. He stuffed my son's head with lies he didn't even believe himself just so he could get in my wife's good side, and now Michio is dead!"

Katsuro ran both hands through his thin hair and his eyes darted around the room frantically, as if searching for something.

"I know he is. There is still that nagging feeling that I'll see him again, make no mistake, but it's became obvious that this is just something I'm making up in my mind so I don't have to cope."

The man paused and frowned, noticing he had interrupted his tale.

"Then Ringo was born. I thought life couldn't be any better. I had a loving family – and they had a longer life spam than I had predicted!" He paused to take a few calming breaths "About the same time things in the village started going better. It was almost as if all the bad things had left with her birth. It was only seven years later, when we discovered that Tsuyu was ill, that things started changing again."

"The doctor said that she had been sick for years, but now the disease was finally taking its toll on her. It was far too late to do anything, and it would be a miracle if she managed to survive. At some point I think she realized she would not live through it, because she confessed what she had done not much after. "

Katsuro paused and quickly licked his bottom lip as if to moisten it.

"I hated them, then. I wished them so many awful things… even Ringo, who had no fault in that entire story. I couldn't get mad at her, though. By all accounts, she is my daughter – She IS my daughter, and nothing will ever change that."

"I had my wife know I wanted her dead. If you ever happen to have someone whom you love – whom you truly love – betray you… There are people who can forgive such things, but that's not in me. But I regret ever wanting her dead, because when she was finally gone there was nothing. Not like when you take revenge and you get some sort of joy out of it, even if a sliver; I didn't feel any better. It didn't feel as if a traitor had died, it felt as if my wife had died. Because that was exactly what had happened."

"We had a dog then, and it was around that time that he died too. He was old and died peacefully, but that brought no relief to anyone. I don't think Ringo would spend a single hour without crying. She would spend all night screaming "why?" nonstop, and only god knows how I wanted to join her."

"Five years went by – and my father in law had also died by then – until Michio decided he'd "make his dreams come true". He wanted to become a shinobi, and I made it clear I was against it. I think he would have considered my points if I hadn't done the shit I did then. I said that if he left to become a ninja he'd be no son of mine. And so he left."

There was a long pause, as if Katsuro expected them to say something.

"The rest you know."

"And you decided that plotting our death would do anything to the people you hate." Madara spoke with a mocking undertone "That seems like a foolproof plan to me."

"You could say that… But it's obvious that Takehiko's lack of leadership skills would bring this clan's downfall, something I suppose you two could prevent. This is more than a revenge on my part; it's making sure these unfortunate villages will escape the grip of a government that is more preoccupied with glory than its people and that no other poor bastard has to go through the same I did."

"And, of course, you decide to side with the Shirohae, because having them destroy your village is clearly the sanest choice."

"Know your enemies!" Katsuro replied slowly but firmly, as if lecturing him. There was an air of authority about him, despite the position he was in "The Shirohae would not destroy crops and villages just to build others on top of them for no good reason. They know the costs of expanding their territory, and if you become clan leader it'd do you well to learn from them."

"After your plan to kill us fails, you decide you'll give us advice?" Izuna questioned "And that we should take it? The Uchiha and the Shirohae are different, and we'd much rather run things our way."

"Well then." The smirked "To each their own, I suppose. It will be so much more satisfying when this clan eventually crumbles."

"Crumbles?" The youngest sibling frowned "Regardless of your personal biases, wishing the demise of the people who ultimately protect your village isn't very wise."

"Oh, well, who cares about some village, anyways." Katsuro shrugged "To any other clan we would only be a source of supply, so there's really no difference between the Uchiha and the other ninja clans. They are all paid to spread destruction, and as long as there is at least one ninja standing" His eyes were dark as he spoke "there will always be pain."

Izuna's expression became sour, but Madara seemed unfazed. He took his sword from its handle and unsheathed it, resting the cutting edge of the blade against Katsuro's neck.

"That is so predictable." The farmer seemed taken aback by his reaction "I don't know what gave you the impression people have never tried to plot against us before." Then he smirked "It's almost become routine now."

The door opened not a second later, and all the three heads in the room turned to see Ringo entering. She had been smiling, and her cheeks were in their usual shade of red, but as soon as she started processing the scene in front of her, she paled. Her lips parted just slightly, her eyebrows contorted exaggeratedly and her eyes widened, while her entire body started trembling.

She was about to utter something, but as someone jumped on her and threw her against the nearest wall, she only had time to scream.

"YOU KNEW IT?!" Ringo flinched, turning her head downwards, away from the threatening voice that boomed above her. There was a hand pinning each of her arms down, its fingers clawing at her flesh. She could feel Madara shaking – certainly from fury – and a few strands of his hair falling down and grazing the sides of her face. "Look at me." He wasn't yelling, but his tone still denoted anger.

The girl refused to move, but he had no patience and crushed both her wrists in one hand, using the other to grip the sides of her face and force her to look up, and she whimpered.

Though she could not move her head around, she could hear ragged breathing in the other end of the room, and thought she heard her father saying something and then a thump, as if something had been shoved against the wall.

"Stay." She heard Izuna's voice say in a commanding tone, and for a few seconds she couldn't believe he could sound so awful.

"Since when did you know?" Madara asked, seemingly oblivious to what was happening behind him, or simply not caring.

"A-a few weeks" She whispered, adverting her gaze.

"I told you to look at me." He growled and squeezed the sides of her face painfully until she looked up.

Madara was sure that he had seen guilt in her eyes for a brief moment, and he wanted to see it again. If he could, he knew he'd feel better, even if only a little, but her face only revealed fear, and that fueled his anger.

"In exactly what way did you take part in this treason?" He continued with the interrogatory "Because I know you are the only person whom we told about our plans."

"If you'd listen to her you'd know how she has been trying to help yo-" Katsuro started, but he was interrupted by something and his phrase ended in a pained groan.

Ringo hadn't seen it, but she knew exactly what had happened. Izuna had just hit him. She had to be by her father to help him, to make sure he wouldn't be hurt again. Unfortunately, the only way she could get to him was by hurting Madara instead and making a run for it.

She didn't even think before kicking the shinobi in the shin with all the strength she could muster, and as he let go of her, she sprinted towards the man sitting in the ground and clutching his stomach. She hadn't thought about how she would get past Izuna, but even if she had, it wouldn't have helped her at all. Just as she gave her second step she felt something grabbing her by the throat, and for an agonizing few seconds she lost her breath, thinking she would be strangled to death right then and there, before she felt her back hit something hard and the grip around her neck loosened. She wasn't choking anymore, but she still felt suffocated.

"There's a fair warning for you:" Madara growled in her ear and she felt her very core tremble, while tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Try something funny again and he dies." And he pointed to Katsuro, before holding her wrists together once more.

That position was much worse than Ringo had imagined possible. The hand around her throat made her feel extremely vulnerable, but seeing her father on the ground, in pain and staring at her in shock was much worse, and her first instinct was to weep like a baby, but she'd never forgive herself if she cried like that in front of him. She tried to appear confident, but with the threat fresh in her mind, the best she could do was hold back a sniff.

Meanwhile, Madara had a deep scowl etched on his face. She had kicked him on her own accord, making it very clear that she preferred Katsuro over him, and that enraged him more than he thought fair.

"What was it he was saying? About you trying to _help_?" Madara inquired in a hiss "Because I can think of a way or two that could have worked more efficiently."

The girl knew he wouldn't like the real answer, but at that point, he probably wouldn't be happy with anything she said. While she really wanted to tell him everything, both in hopes that maybe he wouldn't be so mad at her then and that she'd take that burden off her shoulders, she didn't feel safe to speak. Her words, even if honest, had brought her into that mess, and she didn't think they would win back her trust anytime soon.

Besides, she didn't know where to begin.

"I…" She started meekly "That day when I said I was looking for Michio, remember? I wasn't. I knew there was a squad of Shirohae around that area and that they were going to meet with another squad some days later and then they were going to ambush you." She paused, shifting her weight from one leg to another. "I was afraid they could kill you then, and so I thought… If you could ambush them instead, and when they were in smaller numbers, you'd have more chances of winning. I didn't think I could convince you two to come with me to none's land, and if I had disappeared father would ask you to help go looking for me, and if you saw the Shirohae you'd kill them. I found the place where they were camping and stayed around there until you showed up. If they caught me there, I would just say who I was and make up something on the spot."

That answer surprised both Izuna and Madara, but the latter in particular. Though her plan wasn't flawless, it showcased more slyness than he thought she possessed. He felt something akin to smugness when he realized that _this _girl (whom, in his mind, he had almost referred to as _his_ girl before quickly scoffing at the expression), a fourteen-year-old civilian of his clan, had managed to sneak up on a squad of eight grown shinobi and orchestrate their deaths, but that soon brought a much less pleasant thought to him. _Some kid_ had managed to fool the men who were sent to kill him.

He felt underrated, and it was so infuriating that actually made him sick to the stomach. In fact, that whole situation disgusted him, and thus, whatever pride he felt for the girl evaporated. The shirohae sent a set of pathetic ninja to deal with them; Katsuro didn't make sure his allies would send their best fighters; Ringo thought they couldn't take care of themselves.

More than betrayed, he felt ridiculed. He had been through much worse than some low-leveled ninja trying to kill him, and even if Katsuro didn't know that, Ringo should. He had trusted her with his secrets and he had told her about battles he had before. She should know that a squad of Shirohae wouldn't be enough to take care of him, especially with Izuna by his side. And since she was the one responsible for gathering the information on him, he wondered just how much she had told her "_father_". He had trusted her with secrets few people knew – heck, he had even told her that, for the life of him, he couldn't urinate if there was someone standing behind him! She had laughed and made fun of him, and he had let her, and told her even more things in return. Just the thought that _that man_ could know all the things that were so personal to him made him sick… but not more than the thought that Ringo had betrayed him.

How could he have been _so stupid_?

"Well, isn't that thoughtful of you?" His tone was sweet, but that didn't fool the girl. He could feel her trembling against him, and as he moved the hand that was encasing her wrists to pull her closer, she only started shaking more. That reminded him of how he had once found a wounded dog when he was a kid, and how the animal would tremble and flinch whenever he tried to pet it.

"But you know what would have been even more thoughtful?" He paused and Ringo's shivers intensified with the suspense. He wished she'd just stop already. "If you hadn't tried to kill me!"

"I did not!" She protested "It wasn't my idea! I-"

"Do you remember what I said? About the accomplice being the guiltiest?" Ringo made a sound that was between laughter and weeping

"That doesn't make any sense…"

"You wouldn't be in this mess now."

"What did you want me to do?! Turn in my father?!" She asked, horrified "What would you do if Izuna did something like this?"

"I would beat some sense into him!" Madara yelled at her ear, and Ringo whined weakly, before her shoulders started shaking and she lowered her head. There was no doubt that she was crying now.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered "I'm sorry…" Her words became muddled by the tears, and it sounded like she was doing nothing more than whining pathetically.

He _really_ wanted her to shut up.

"Izuna" He called to his brother, who was still keeping a forlorn Katsuro pressed against the far wall "What do you think we should do."

"Honestly" The other replied emotionlessly "I don't care anymore."

Madara nodded and turned his attention back to Ringo, who was still weeping.

"You're not sorry yet." With that he pushed her to the ground, and her knees made a loud bang when they hit the floor. He slapped the back of her head and she fell down, not even bothering to resist, as she continued crying.

"Please…" A voice called softly from the other side of the room "Don't hurt _her_."

The shinobi snapped his head up and glared at Katsuro.

"Do you really think you're in position to bargain?!" He spat, and was surprised when Katsuro's expression changed from fear to curiosity. The man's eyes locked with his, not fazed by his hostility.

Madara didn't think of looking away. He felt as if Katsuro was trying to read his mind with some sort of purpose, and he wanted to find out what was it that he wanted.

None of them was having much success.

The farmer suddenly cast his eyes down and towards the girl weeping softly in the center of the room, causing the shinobi to do the same.

Ringo's face was completely covered by her hair and, aside from a few small tremors, she didn't move at all.

He stepped back and glanced at Izuna before turning around and walking to the door.

"Brother?" The boy called.

Madara paused for a moment before shaking his head. He tore the door from its hinges, making Katsuro close his eyes and Ringo start shaking violently again, and stepped outside.

Izuna remained still for a second before relinquishing his grip on the man and leaving as well, as if nothing had happened.

The sky was beautiful and the birds chirped happily outside, not hinting at the terror the peasants felt. Ringo feared that their house would suddenly be set on fire, but Katsuro was more concerned about her state of mind than anything else.

At some point he had concluded Madara wouldn't harm them. He certainly would like to do something to him, but having Ringo in the room was most likely what had stopped him. Maybe after he had killed the first squad of Shirohae he didn't want to shed blood in front of her again.

His daughter had quite probably saved his life.

Though he supposed that didn't matter much. If it wasn't for her he wouldn't have anything left to live for, so as long as she was well it would be alright. If she had died during the course of his agreement with the Shirohae, though…

Katsuro had miscalculated. He did not regret attempting against Madara and Izuna's lives (had he the power to strike them down with lightning, he would do it without stammering), but he certainly regretted not insisting that the Shirohae sent their best men or not collecting more information on them. He had thought about using poison and getting it over with by himself – many times, actually – but he had no means of acquiring it, and even if he did, it would be too risky. If the poison didn't act immediately or much later, they would certainly catch up on it and kill both him and Ringo. And that he could not have.

Once he felt it had been enough time for the brothers to get away he ran towards Ringo and knelt by her side. He was surprised at how much his legs were shaking.

His touch on her arm was featherlight, but her head snapped up as if she had been hit. She didn't speak, but the look on her face revealed her thoughts all too well.

_Why?_

Katsuro ran his arms around her shoulders to bring her closer and touched the top of her head with his forehead.

"I'm sorry." He spoke, feeling tears sprout from his eyes "Ringo, I'm so…"

Ringo had buried her face on his chest and hugged his eyes when she started shaking her head.

They didn't know how long they remained like this.

* * *

><p>Izuna puffed, examining the pit Madara and he had thrown the bodies of the Shirohae. They had decided that it would be best if they hid the evidence, because Takehiko finding that they had been attacked by them was against their best interest.<p>

He turned to his brother, who had a faraway look on his eyes.

"Hey, beard man." He grinned playfully, but the other didn't respond. Maybe he couldn't cheer him up by just being silly "Are you okay?" Madara turned to him sharply.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" His words were pure acid.

"No, you're right." Izuna looked away "I'm sorry."

He heard the other sigh, and waited. If Madara wanted to talk about something he would certainly listen, and if he just told him that they should leave he would certainly listen too.

"I'm tired." He spoke at last

"It gets better." Izuna shrugged.

"Does it really?"

"I don't know. I'm just trying to cheer you up by saying whatever comes to mind. Gee, I thought you knew me better!"

Madara made a sound akin to a chuckle and Izuna was happy to conclude that he was succeeding on his task, at least partially.

"I should know when to trust people." He shook his head.

"Now, don't be like that." The youngest sibling ran a hand behind the other's back.

"Izuna, what are you doing?" He asked, inching away from him.

"Come on, we're brothers, it's not weird to hug your brother."

"Let go of me." Madara tried to push him away, though his efforts seemed half-hearted.

"Nope." Izuna shook his head "You're going to have to make me."

The other sighed defeated and placed a hand on his brother shoulder.

"I bet we look awkward as fuck right now." He spoke and started following the road, pulling the other along.

"Well, there's none watching."

"We're going to take an awful long time to get to the stronghold."

"That's great! We'll be able to appreciate the sunset!"

"Just shut up." Madara grinned, and Izuna complied with a smile on his face.

They didn't know how long they remained like this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

…Yay for Freudian excuse…!...?

This one was supposed to be the real ending (The next and previous chapters are also possible endings, so if you're mad at me, you can pick any of the other two – or just think I'm a bitch, that's ok too). I only realized that the story didn't hint to this when it was too late. I actually only regret not having the story be darker from the beginning, because I figured that most people who read it wouldn't like it to end like this. Yet, this still is my favorite ending (it was supposed to be more bloody until I told a friend about it and she was all "D:" so I changed it a little).

Despite the fact that I like Madara love stories, I can't see any of them having a positive outcome (not realistically), either because he is in full-insanity mode at the time, or he has to reach this state. Because he has to become the magnificent bastard that wants to steal the moon and brainwash everybody, I don't feel like I can write a story giving him a reason to smile if I'm not going to strip him of it. Quoting the "all-time-classic" My Immortal fanfic "When Voldemint was in Hogwarts before he became powerful he gut his hearth borken. Now do you fink he would still become Volxemort if he was in love?" Also, he's a fictional character. It's okay to torture those.

So yeah, I gave Katsuro a sob story. Sue me. I had to show his past, however, and I saw no other way to do it. In spite of his asshole-ific tendencies, I still like Katsuro, specially because I like the idea of having an antagonist(?) who has no power to back him up at all, only his smarts and his hatred.

Is it funny that I see similarities between Katsuro and Madara after he goes psycho? That and the whole plotting against Madara (reminiscent of these last chapters, if you've read them) were a complete accident, by the way. Kishimoto is stealing my ideas! *shakes fist*

Anyhow, the final chapter should be up sooner than this one, because I've been writing them simultaneously, and it should be about 40 pages long. Forty-fucking-pages.

So… now you can stop reading because I'm going to start rating about life and stuff. Seriously, the talk about the story ended in the previous paragraph.

I'm in university now. Yeah. I couldn't have more mixed feelings about it, honestly. It's great and exciting, but so tiring. I also have a lot more calculus and physics than I would like (I'm doing an engineering course, what did I expect?!). And back in school I felt like a big fish in a small pond (arrogance at its finest) but now I feel like a small fish in a HUGE pond. It's... different.


	13. Every path

_Unintelligible._

The kanjis on the paper merged together, stubbornly refusing to remain in place and be read, forming incomprehensible symbols. The headache also didn't make it any easier for him to decipher the document.

Madara started rubbing his temples. He remained like that for some time, until his head stopped pounding, and then put a hand in front of his face. The sight made him flinch.

It seemed much further than he knew it was, and it almost looked like gravity was pulling the center of his palm downwards. Those symptoms weren't new, and he was almost used to them, but what really made his stomach churn was his skin. It looked as if it was wavering, or rather, as if something was crawling underneath it. He felt a sudden urge to scratch it, just to make sure it was just an illusion, but he knew it was foolish believing it could be anything else. His condition was worsening.

With a frustrated huff, he pulled himself off of his seat, hands buried in his hair and eyes turned to the dark ceiling, as he paced around the room. There was no use in going back to work now; not when his vision was currently as sharp as a dull knife.

Too busy with his own thoughts, Madara only noticed the approaching presence when his door was opened and he looked down, only to glare daggers at the newcomer.

"Izuna." The young man turned his back to the door he had just closed and watched the other warily, the amount of hostility in his voice not going unnoticed as he drawled "Where were you?"

The shinobi sighed, hiding a small smile. He should have figured that this was why his brother was so angry. "Outside."

"Outside." He repeated "Doing?"

"Nothing in particular, dear brother. Just walking."

"I see." By his tone, Izuna knew he was being sarcastic "I'm pleased to know at least one of us has plenty of free time."

"Too much paper work?" The younger sibling asked sympathetically.

"_You don't have the slightest idea_." And with that, he dropped down on the couch, making a cloud of dust rise from the seat.

"This place is filthy." Izuna commented, sitting down in front of the table "Don't you have people to clean this office for you?"

"The tolerable maid is ill."

"Tolerable?" The other snorted in amusement "And what are the other ones? Annoying?"

"The majority." Madara answered, playing with a fold in his pants

"Wouldn't it be nice if the maids found out you find them annoying?" Izuna smiled warmly, though there was a touch of malice behind it.

"Wouldn't it be nice if you did something profitable for a change?" The other asked, eyebrows raised.

"Can't argue with that." He replied cheerfully, and Madara was satisfied when he heard the sound of sheets turning and sentences being scribbled.

A few minutes went by before Izuna spoke again.

"You know" He was interrupted by a loud sigh "… I was going to suggest you go outside and take a walk, but if you want to lie in a dark dusty room and sneeze to your death, fine by me."

"I'm leaving." Madara threw his legs over the couch and stood up, as, unbeknownst to him, his brother rolled his eyes "Don't slack."

"Positive reinforcement works sometimes, too!" A voice called out behind him.

He closed the door and leaned against its frame for a few seconds, trying to hide a small smile. Izuna was always so lazy… but Madara didn't want to think of what would have be of him if his brother hadn't been there all along, or if anything happened to him. And so – then his smile turned into a frown – if his most trusted medics didn't find a _real _cure for his condition, there would be hell to pay for.

"I think I can see it!" The girl yelled, pointing to somewhere in the horizon "Yes! There is something there!"

She squeaked excitedly and leaned in closer, only to be held back by a hand in her shoulder.

"Hey, calm down!" A voice called jokingly "You're going to fall down like this!"

Ringo turned around and gave Riki a bright smile, before sitting down in her spot in the cart.

They had been in the road for about twenty hours. Riki's grandfather had been kind enough to take her, her father and a few other villagers on their small, but resistant cart, so they wouldn't have to emigrate on foot instead.

The war between the Uchiha and the Kaguya was only in its initial stage, but the fear of invasion was ever ongoing, and since they lived the closest to the borders of their territory, the entire village was forced to move to the center of the territory.

Despite her excitement, Ringo wasn't happy about moving. She was glad to be able to leave the cart soon, but she'd still rather be living in her farm, in the woods. She felt a pang in the chest remembering all the things she had to leave behind, many precious memories among them.

However, the one who was suffering the most was, by far, her father. As time passed, he became more and more bitter, but the moving had made him take a turn for the worse. Ever since the village leader gave the announcement, Katsuro had gained a completely new dark aura. Ringo was used to people telling her that there was something unsettling about her father, but she never gave it much thought. Yet, just recently she started feeling uncomfortable around him at times, and everyone else seemed to find his presence torturous.

She blamed the sickness. Her father's health had never been perfect, having had troubles breathing ever since he was a kid, and they had to take the greatest of cares with it, as any cold could leave him bed-ridden for days, but now stricken with another disease; something in the bones, it seemed. Katsuro never complained about his condition, but she could see he was in pain.

"Oh, I see it too!" The elder man riding the vehicle exclaimed "We're getting there, everyone! Just a few more minutes." Most people in the tight cart seemed quite happy about the news, while others muttered impatiently.

The last minutes of the trip seemed to take the longest to pass, but finally they arrived at the outside wall surrounding the village near the compound. They were huge, made of dark slippery rocks, and standing close to it, Ringo couldn't even see where it ended, as it seemed to reach up to the skies. They sure seemed to be prepared for a war.

The cart and the mules had to stay outside, and after the guards on the gate allowed them to pass, the group walked in. The inside, much like her home village, was bustling with activity, from people just passing by, to children playing in the streets, ninja going about on their duties and vendors shouting to expose a myriad or products. It was bigger than her town, but also considerably more crowded.

The girl sat down under a tree as her father checked a few papers with the shinobi, who directed them to where their house should be. Though Ringo showed amazement that they had been provided with a place to stay, Katsuro said she shouldn't be too excited about it. And truthfully, their new home was fairly small and simple, and they'd have to share a room. Other than that, she had no complaints, as the house seemed new and resistant, but according to her father, because of the materials and the huge walls surrounding the village, the place would be scorching during the warmer months.

At the farthest point of the village, another, thicker stone wall surrounded a very large building.

'So this is _The _compound' Ringo mused with fascination. She never thought it would be that big, but considering it was the main building of the clan and that, from what she had heard, all the ninja lived in that place when they weren't out on missions, the size was no wonder.

But that was truly the only interesting part about that place. Even if Ringo was fine with the house, she most certainly wasn't happy about the proximity of the other residences. It would be almost impossible to walk around without bumping into other peasants. She knew her father and she could try to move to a better house more to the center of the fortress or to a farther territory, but they'd have to pay for it themselves. Though she liked people, she wasn't particularly fond of being with so many of them in such a small space.

Sitting in the tiny porch of her new home and watching the mob of civilians and soldiers walk about, she frowned when she remembered she'd still have to find a new job, and chances were, she wouldn't be able to tend to apple trees.

Other than taking care of plants she wasn't particularly good at anything. She had a good aim and could make beds faster than anyone she had ever met, but those hardly seemed like talents to her. Because her family had always been considerably well-off she had learned how to read and write and a little math (though she was relay bad at the little she knew), unlike most of her friends, but she didn't know if any of those could get her a job there. She could cook and clean, though, so she figured she'd have more luck finding a job that required such abilities. However, the prospective of being either a maid or a cook didn't appeal to her.

She sighed

She really wanted to go home.

Ringo had almost finished her chores for the day, and there was only one more item to cross out of her list. Though she was sleepy and her bones were sore, she was glad her last task didn't involve getting on her knees and scrubbing the floors like she had been for most of the day, and that brought her renewed energy.

She could not recall having such a tiring routine since ever. Being a maid was as boring as she thought it would be, but unfortunately it was considerably harder too. The work at the farm was almost easy compared to her new one, not to mention that now she had to follow a schedule and work for a certain amount of hours every day, and how much a little mistake could cost her. Back in her hometown, people were much more patient, but in the Uchiha compound, if things didn't go according to the plan, she would be in for it, and she had received enough warnings of her superiors to pick up her pace.

Not that she was happy about it.

If it wasn't for that stupid war, she could be home right now. At this hour in the evening, she'd be helping her father with dinner and she'd be telling him about her day. Her father smiled less and less with each passing day, but all of her stories would cheer him up. Now that all of their so called "friends" started avoiding him because of his difficult situation, she knew that if she wasn't there to take care of him, none else would.

Her last chore was to clean up an office. It seemed simple enough, but upon seeing the room, Ringo threw her head back and let out a frustrated groan. That place was ridiculously messy, with papers scattered around the floor, paint spilled on the desk, a tray with the remains of what seemed to have been someone's lunch, open bottles leaking suspicious liquids on the rug, stains on the sofa and pillows, candle wax one the wooden furniture, and she could swear there was even a pile of clothes in a corner. On top of all that, everything was covered by a thick layer of dust. She wasn't a particularly tidy person, but she wondered who could get any job done in those conditions.

The plan of action was to clean up the mixture of fluids in the desk first, to avoid any important documents getting wet , then pick up the papers from the ground and try to pile them together the best she could, and then clean the furniture. She wasn't sure if she could do anything about the couch, though.

Ringo skipped to the table in the center of the room, trying to balance various cleaning supplies while also avoiding stepping on any papers. She picked up some documents from the desk and set them on the ground before dipping a rag in a water bucket to clean the surface. The blend of liquids had a peculiar, but nonetheless pleasant, smell. It was definitely a combination of jasmine tea, sake, paint and a few other things she was certain were different types of medicine.

She dropped the cloth in the bucket and crouched down to pick up the sheets littered across the room. She didn't think she was allowed to read them, so she'd have to make a pile for all of them. However, that was probably a blessing rather than a curse, as sorting out paperwork seemed far from fun.

It had been probably a little over two minutes when Ringo concluded she had gathered as many papers as she could – and there were still some left – when she turned around and started getting up, but something that hadn't been in the room before made her stop in her tracks.

When she recognized the shadow as a human, she instantly realized who it was and it made her heartbeat triple and her stomach churn – not in excitement, but in fear. He had become taller, and from his crossed arm she could see he was also stronger. His hair, that she fondly remembered having leaves and twigs sticking out of it, was longer and cleaner, though spiky as ever. His features were unmistakable; a little sharper if anything, and the bags beneath his eyes darker, as if he had had many sleepless nights. Ringo didn't know how long he had been there, but from his relaxed position and the closed door, he couldn't have just walked in.

"Small world." Madara said in a low voice, and after what seemed like an eternity, he started taking deliberate steps towards her.

Realizing in what unfortunate position she was, Ringo hurried to stand back up, but before she could reach her full height, something connected with the top of her head with such strength she felt her brain reverberating inside her cranium and she was pushed down to the ground, dropping the pile of papers and landing on all fours.

Her breathing was ragged and her wide eyes focused on a stain on the rug, and she didn't turn away from it as the steps started again, turning around her.

"Once you know your place" The man started, in a, _oh, so despicable_ voice "you should stay put."

There was a sound of something being dragged against the wooden boards and Ringo concluded he was sitting down in front of the desk. _His_ desk.

Out of every place she could be sent to, it had to be to _that man's_ office, didn't it? It was as if destiny itself was mocking her; no, plotting her demise. She'd rather scrub the floor in the main hall over and over again until her hands and knees bled than be there. She had to escape; she had to find a way to…

"So?" Madara's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife "Finish what you came here for."

As if waking up from a trance, Ringo started picking up the papers she had dropped, and once she was finished she got back up.

"Down." The maid's head snapped up to stare at the man with utter confusion "Back on your knees."

"How am I supposed to clean, then?" She muttered, realizing those were the first words she spoke to him in years. She had never thought she'd talk to him again, and she always made a conscious effort not to think of Madara, as she knew it wouldn't bring her any peace, but she wished that, if fate wanted them to meet again, that it would happen in different circumstances. However, she decided the fault wasn't hers, as he was being so unpleasant. She wondered if he was like that to all the people who worked under him or it was just her who received such a treatment.

"On your knees, eyes downcast and mouth shut. That's how." He answered, not even glancing at her, and choosing instead to look for something in a drawer.

Ringo felt as if electricity was running through her body, as she bit her lower lip and felt angry tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. With excruciating slowness, she crouched down, and when her knees touched the carpeted floor, it hurt a lot more than she expected.

The girl set the pile of papers on the desk with shaky hands, ignoring her desperate wish to shove them down that monster's throat.

Madara didn't even blink at her action, and Ringo lowered her head until it touched her legs. She clawed at the rug, remaining still for some seconds, until she mustered the willpower to pick up a sheet lying discarded by her side.

The one thing she wished for the most at that moment was that the Kaguya would be defeated for once and for all, but that desire had nothing to do with her clan. She only wanted the war to be over so she could go back to her village, and as far away from that man as she could.

The rain fell down outside of the cabin while the man sat by the window, watching the stream of water falling off the roof tiles, creating something he could only describe as a flowing canopy covering the whole house.

He turned around when the pitter patter sound was interrupted by a loud slam, and came face to face with a young woman, yet on her late teens, shivering and soaked to the bone, with a scowl on her face.

"It's raining." She stated in a somber voice. Though her posture indicated she was tired, her eyes were ablaze with a strange glow.

"Yes, it is." Katsuro stood up "You could have waited for it to dim a little… But I knew you wouldn't. There's warm water for you to take a bath." Ringo's expression softened and she offered him a small smile.

"Thank you."

"There's food too; now, don't dawdle or you'll catch a cold."

Ringo walked to their small bathroom, took of her wet clothes and stepped into their small tub. Her sore muscles went stiff and she watched as her knees buckled from the sudden change of temperature.

Her father was so nice. He had insisted in looking for a job too so she wouldn't have to support the two of them by herself, but Ringo knew he was in no condition to work, most of all for the ruthless employers in the Uchiha compound, and even then, he insisted on doing all the house chores so she'd be able to rest when she was home.

Six out of seven days Ringo had to work from seven in the morning to about seven in the evening. Three out of these six days she had to clean Madara's office, and for all the two months she had been working there he always made she do everything on her knees. She had spoken to her supervisor about changing her schedule, but the woman said she was too busy to rearrange everything at the moment. Ringo told herself she'd be able to endure it for long enough, just until their village was in no danger of being invaded and they could go home. And she thought she was going well too, but now…

The day had been good. She was getting used to washing the floors, stopped bumping on furniture and almost knocking expensive vases down and thought she was getting used to standing on her knees. She had finished most of her tasks quickly, and was just about to crawl out of Madara's office when he set down a parchment he was reading, cleared his throat, and flipped his desk, sending papers, and bottles, and ink quills, and brushes and food to the ground. The girl looked at the mess with wide eyes, but the clan leader wasn't done yet. He pulled down a bookshelf, causing it to hit a wall and all the books to fall down; he pushed objects from a table in the back of the room and they crashed when they hit the floor; he knocked down the couch and he kicked her bucket, sending dirty water to the ground and splashing on her clothes.

Ringo started trembling and she tugged on the carpet as if she would fall if she didn't get a grip on something. The time she finished her job had little importance. She could only leave when her tasks were finished. They were – she had been… But now she couldn't leave. Not until that place was pristine.

The shinobi walked towards the exit casually, but not before crouching to her level and whispering slowly in a tone she could only describe as sadistic "Clean this up."

Ringo hugged her shaky legs and rested her forehead against her knees and took a deep breath. No wonder they were hurting so much. Because of Madara's antic she had to stay more than one hour later than her usual shift. At first she thought that maybe he was angry at something written in the paper, but she had been around him long enough to see that he wasn't as prone to express his anger anymore, much less trashing his whole office. He really didn't seem angry when he did all that, though. Could it be all because of her…?

She sighed and shook her head. That was egocentric of her. Though it was quite obvious he treated her worse than the other maids – and that didn't really surprise her – she also didn't believe he would go out of his way to make her suffer. He was not out to get her. She found some comfort in that thought, but it didn't last long. He would not push her off a cliff, but if she was dangling from one, he certainly wouldn't find it troublesome to step on her fingers to make her fall.

When she had been called to her supervisor's office earlier that morning, Ringo couldn't believe her luck. While she didn't know for sure that her schedule would be changed, she had to remain positive.

Standing outside the room, as she had been instructed, the young woman tried to smooth the folds of her apron, but to no avail. She looked pitiful, and found it curious she was so amused by this realization.

The door to the office opened, and a tall woman walked out with a small sheet in her hands. Inside the room, another woman, sitting in front of a table, beckoned her in with a wave of her hand, while still looking to a pile of papers in front of her.

The interior was small and the walls were lined up with shelves. Ringo noticed the woman had stuffed every available place with documents, and considering the amount of them, she should have very little free time.

"What's your name?" The supervisor asked with a blank tone, still not looking at her.

"Ringo…" The girl felt tempted to add a 'Sir' to the sentence, but decided against it.

"Hum hum. So what don't you like about your schedule?" The woman didn't seem particularly interested in her, but then she looked up with a serious expression "Cleaning the floors is not optional."

"Oh, no, I'm fine with that!" Ringo was quick to remark "I noticed you had a backyard garden, with fruit trees and everything… I used to work in an apple orchard before we moved here and I know how to take care of plants."

"You want to help with the garden?" Ringo noticed the slightest change in the woman's eyes. She seemed somewhat amused. "That's unusual but can be arranged. Anything else you're good at?"

"Making beds." The girl admitted, somewhat embarrassed. Being fast at making beds never seemed like a very special talent to her.

"To the chambers you go, then. And what would you like to change?"

"If it's possible, cleaning anything easily breakable and… About…" She paused, having difficulty to muster her next words "Madara-_sama_'s office…"

"Oh, yes." The woman's lips curled in what could be the beginning of a smirk "So you're the one who's doing it now. There were no complaints about you, but most maids don't like to take up that task."

Now, that was a surprise. From the way she had been treated all this time Ringo thought Madara would have many bad things to say about her work, even if made up.

"So if that's all, you can wait while I rearrange your schedule." There were no chairs left in the room so the girl leaned against the wall and started trying to straighten her apron again. It took the woman a few minutes to fill the whole paper, but Ringo savored it more every second that went by. The girl couldn't hold back a grin when the sheet was finally handed to her, but before she could pull it from the woman's hands, the supervisor leaned in closer, staring with hard eyes.

"I expect nothing short of perfection, understood?"

"Yes…! M'am!" She finally remembered the word she was supposed to use.

"Now run along and do your chores." The woman sent her away with a wave of her hand and Ringo ran out of the office, giggling like a child who had just done something naughty and knew they wouldn't be punished for it. She skipped all the way to the main hall where she was supposed to scrub the floor. She didn't like that task, but she'd never let such a small thing ruin that day.

Madara drummed his fingers against the table impatiently.

_Late._

After all the days Ringo had been cleaned his office, he noticed that she was fairly punctual, and he had made sure to arrive early that day just so he'd have the pleasure to tell her to get on her knees. Every time he arrived she was already there, and with time she had learned to notice his approach and kneel down before he entered, and thus he never had anything to torture her with. He was pleased when he found out that his last antic had forced Ringo to stay in late. It would be a hassle to get things to replace the ones he broke and the council would think him mad, but none would be able to convince him it hadn't been worth it.

_At last_ the door opened, when he noticed it wasn't the person he was expecting. It was a maid alright, but not Ringo. She was shorter and her hair not as messy. The face was certainly the biggest difference between the two, and he knew he would never mistake one for another, not even if he was drunk on the verge of passing out.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, startling the girl.

"Hm… Cleaning?" The maid stared at him with wide eyes and held her cleaning supplies in front of her as to protect herself. It could have been a funny scene if he wasn't in such a sour mood.

"And who said you were to clean my office?"

"Sanae-san did."

"Did she?" He continued in a conversational tone, despite the fact that it was evident that the girl felt as if she was being interrogated "And what do you think of these arrangements?"

She seemed surprised about having her opinion considered, and smiled tentatively while also shrugging.

"Then" Madara rose from his chair "allow me to fix this situation." And he walked to the exit, but before reaching the door he turned back to the maid "And an advice: Knock before entering someone's office."

"Knock?" The girl furrowed her brows and then gasped when the head of her clan was suddenly standing right in front of her. He raised his hand and she braced herself for the worst, but only got a fist tapping against her head lightly.

"Knock, knock, anyone there?" The man asked. After waiting for a few seconds and receiving no responses he continued "Apparently not."

Madara left the room, leaving the girl to herself. After a few instants, she asked in disbelief:

"Did he just call me dumb?"

The day was surprisingly warm, more than anyone had predicted, and thus most people were having lunch outside. Ringo had sat down in the porch with a group of maids, talking about their own stories and, when they ran out of things to say, gossiping. Her father always said that gossiping was for rude and stupid people, but sometimes the urge to talk was larger than the repertory, and Ringo concluded that this was the reason why people gossiped. She wasn't too averse to it, either.

"... and she lied! Worst of all, Hitomi believed every word she said!" A girl with short hair was telling a story of another maid she had been cleaning a kunoichi's room with, and most of her statements were said in an excited tone.

"Well, Yuri lies a lot." Another maid spoke, grinning "I'm surprised she never got caught!"

"Shut up!" The first maid said "You lie all the time!"

"I do not!"

"Yeah, you do!"

"That's coming back to Yuri sooner or later." Another girl chided in, probably trying to avoid an argument "She's lying about something that was her fault in the face of someone who can break her in half. I wouldn't do that."

"Well, if I could get away with it, I would!" The first maid declared.

"Honesty is the best policy~" A fourth girl said with a hint of a smirk.

Ringo felt slightly uncomfortable. Though she was happy to have someone to share her meal with, she didn't feel entirely safe to make an input in the girls' conversation. They had welcomed her (at least, it seemed like they had), but she didn't feel brave enough to talk often –her, out of all people! That place made her feel like she wasn't herself anymore…

"There you are!" A voice called from behind her, and Ringo turned around to see her supervisor striding towards her group. Her face seemed strangely flushed, as if she was embarrassed. "Sachiko and…" she paused, looking at the girl expectantly.

"…Ringo" she completed uncertainly.

"Yes, well, I need you two in my office now."

"Ah!" The girl, who had been smirking just a few seconds ago squeaked, a look of fear crossing her eyes "Did I do something wrong?"

"What could _you_ have done wrong?" the first girl asked raising her eyebrows "Seriously, _you_?"

"I don't know!" she yelled, burying her face in her hands.

"Don't worry, none is in trouble." The supervisor sighed "Except for me, maybe. I just need to fix your schedules."

The woman started walking away, with the other maid not far behind, looking relieved, and Ringo found herself forced to follow them, though she wasn't happy about the change. She did rather like her schedule as it was.

There were already two other people waiting outside the room: a tall girl, with her long hair tied in a lose ponytail, looking somewhat nervous, and a shorter young man, staring at the ceiling, bored.

Sanae opened the door to her office and the four walked in, squeezing themselves in order to fit all in the small space.

"Sachiko, you won't be taking up the task to clean Madara-sama's office anymore."

The girl's eyes widened, and so did Ringo's.

"What did I do?" Sachiko asked, seemed genuinely surprised.

"Nothing that I know of." Sanae reassured, handing her a small piece of paper "There were no complaints about you, don't worry." Ringo flinched, remembering that those were the same words she used a few days ago, before changing her schedule.

"Akari, you'll help clean the east wing chambers and with the cooking." The supervisor continued, and the other girl nodded, murmuring an affirmative. Those were Ringo's tasks. "Seto, you're free from stable duty and will have more time in the garden instead." The boy seemed genuinely happy and revealed a crooked grin to show his approval, while the woman gave him and the other girl their new schedules.

"Ringo, here's yours." Sanae extended a fourth sheet and waited for her to take it. Ringo complied, but she wasn't happy about it. The woman hadn't said anything about her new tasks, but if the change in the others' revealed anything, she was sure she wouldn't like her new schedule.

As Ringo assumed, she wasn't to help in the kitchen anymore. That didn't bother her too much, even though she had always liked to help others cook. She had also been stripped of her rights to tend to the garden, and was now supposed to help clean up the stables instead, which was a ridiculous notion. First, she had no idea until that day that they had a stable; second, she had never seen a horse up close, let alone clean the mess of one; and third, from what Riki had told her, tending to large animals was more straining than it looked. She also wasn't to tend to any chambers, scratching out the one task she could perform easily. She had received an extra task – more stable duty, on Saturday mornings, forcing her to be there for duty an hour earlier than usual. And, to compliment the mess that her schedule already was, she had received once more the task to clean an office (not three, but four times a week now), and she didn't have to be told whose office it was.

"Any complaints?"

Before any of the other three could answer, Ringo shouted a sharp 'yes', and her answer was met with a disdainful look from Seto, a hurtful one from Sachiko and a concerned glance from Akari.

She wanted to tear that stupid paper into pieces.

"Alright." Sanae sighed "If none else has problems with their schedule, you can leave." Almost immediately, the other three left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Sanae-san…" Ringo muttered a few seconds later "You didn't organize my schedule."

"No." The woman admitted "And that's why I can't change it."

"That's not fair." She complained, more to herself than her supervisor.

"I don't know what's going on, but I won't go against Madara-sama's orders."

"But he's crazy!" She said, louder than she had intended, and the woman in front of her pursed her lips in disapproval.

"You are from an evacuated village, aren't you?" the girl nodded "Then you should remember that you owe him your safety."

Ringo's lips pressed together and her eyes widened. '_I owe him shit!'_ Is what she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue. She left silently, while inwards she wanted to slam the door behind her.

She wasn't mad at Sanae for the schedule –after all, she had had no say in it – but she couldn't possibly forgive her last claim. If she meant that being forced to move away from her home had saved her life, Ringo decided she hadn't evaluated the situation correctly. And who was at fault that they were in war now? Even if the Uchiha hadn't started the conflict, if they hadn't been trying to annex other territories the Kaguya wouldn't have picked a fight with them. At last, she concluded that if she hadn't been born to a shinobi clan, she'd be much better off.

She wished she could just run away, grab a bag and walk to a land she had never seen, where there were no ninja and people weren't divided by something as petty as their last names. But defecting had always been a crime, punishable by death sometimes, and she knew escape was a hopeless option.

She knew the exact meaning of her father's words now.

Ringo marched towards her fate with head held high and clenched fists. She walked as she imagined a proud warrior would. Not that she honestly believed she'd be executed, but thinking of the more extreme possibilities helped a little.

She didn't feel as scared of entering Madara's office as she used to. Now she only felt anger. She was aware that Madara was, in fact, out to get her and make her life in the Uchiha compound as miserable as he could, but she couldn't bring herself to be afraid of him at the moment. She didn't care if he was the clan's leader now – it wouldn't matter even if he was the ruler of the world; Madara wasn't treating her fairly, and there was no way she'd let him get away with it without at least a scolding.

The girl turned the doorknob and stepped inside, finding someone already sitting at the desk in the center of the dark room. She used her best glare on him, and she knew he could see it despite the dim light, because she could see the hostile, yet victorious expression on his face.

"Get down." He drawled, as if savoring the moment.

Ringo had just closed the door behind her, her hands still on the handle, when her glare intensified in a way she didn't know was possible. She had never practiced her intimidating face, since the only type of interaction she sought with others was of the friendly kind, and she didn't believe intimidation was very friendly, but Madara seemed to be bringing the worst of her out. She was feeling rather proud of herself, but her opponent didn't seem fazed in the least.

"I'm waiting." His voice lowered and he seemed to lean in closer, while keeping his eyes locked with hers.

That staring contest made Ringo want to look away, but she forced herself to endure it. It was unfair how looking at someone's eyes could affect people in such ways, and even more unfair that Madara was so much better at it than her. He clearly had all the advantages, so why couldn't she at least be able to hold his gaze?

"Why?" She asked after inhaling briefly "You weren't going to see me again. Why did you change my schedule?"

"I don't think you've heard me." His tone was sickly-sweet for a moment, before darkening authoritatively "Down."

"Make me!" She snapped, not really considering the meaning of her words.

"Oh" Madara seemed pleased with her answer "Is that a challenge?"

Ringo gulped when he stood from his chair. Her mind was torn between staying her ground and running away, closing the door on his face. As he walked towards her with slow steps, she had time to think of how he would catch up with her if she tried to run, and that it would only make things worse for her anyway, while willingly getting on her knees was completely out of question.

Madara came to a halt, just a foot in front of her, and Ringo felt her legs shaking. He stared for a moment, seemingly examining her expression, before quickly grabbing the front of her shirt and yanking her down.

She had managed to cushion the fall with her forearms, but her knees took some of the shock and she felt them hurt. However, it wasn't so bad she couldn't stand back up again, and that was precisely what she was going to do when she felt something on her back.

_Was he stepping on her?_

Moving her head to the side just a bit allowed her to see Madara standing, looking at her impassively with arms crossed, and from his position there was no doubt he was using his foot to keep her pinned to the ground. It didn't cause her any physical pain, but her pride was so wounded she felt like screaming.

"You are to stay on the ground." He spoke, applying more pressure "And if you forget it, I'll gladly remind you."

He waited for a few seconds before allowing her to move again. Ringo got on all fours, then on her knees. She was just setting a foot on the ground to stand back up, when something hit the back of her head and pushed her back down again. Because she landed on her hands and knees, and the new force on her back made her limbs cave in, she fell on her chin with a cry.

"Every time you try to stand up, I'll push you back down until you learn your place."

Ringo grunted, placing her arms on the floor and lifting her head, swaying her jaw from side to side to test the damage. It wasn't _too_ bad. That gave her enough motivation to challenge him further, even if a part of her insisted that she was mad for it.

"I can keep this up all night long!" She reassured and turned to look at him, a wild grin spread across her face.

"I do hope you will."

His voice was devoid of emotion, and when Ringo tried to crouch, something made her fall again.

She was on all fours when Madara's foot came to rest on her back again. He wasn't using so much strength she was pushed down, but it was enough to keep her from standing.

"But you know" He started conversationally, as if he was talking about the weather rather than forcing her to kiss the ground "You cannot leave until you have finished all of your tasks, and of course that I won't let you touch anything until you learn your position here."

Oh, how she felt like screeching. She wished she was able to overpower him and shove her fist in his face. It didn't matter who he was; he had no right to treat people like vermin, and Ringo felt as if it was her mission to show him that.

She would show him that he shouldn't be able to get things like that. She would endure his abuse and not bend her will to his. She would fight him. She had to.

Ringo wasn't sure at what time she arrived home, but the village streets were practically empty, so she knew it was late. However it wasn't so late it meant she had lasted all night, and she wouldn't be allowed to forget it.

Needless to say, she hadn't been able to withstand Madara's abuse for a whole night. She thought she had lasted for a respectable time, rising to her feet and being pushed back down several times, but anything less than until morning didn't seem to impress the clan leader. When she finally agreed to remain on her knees he had snickered and started making particularly rude remarks, but she had chosen not to acknowledge them. He didn't seem to care whether she would respond or not.

Though she had felt the familiar sensation of something squeezing her heart and throat on her first day at Madara's office, she hadn't cried once so far. That is, up until that day.

She had tried to hold it in, but at some point her contained anger and wounded pride became so unbearably painful, she just sat in front of the man's desk (where he could only see her if he leaned away from his work) and wept copiously. She had covered her mouth to keep from making noises, but there was a part of her that was sure Madara knew exactly what she was doing, because there was something very cruel about his voice when he told her to get away from his table and do her job.

It took her much longer to clean up than it should have, all because she had to pause to take calming breaths. On top of that, she couldn't stop shaking, and even broke an ink quill, for which she had been severely reprimanded. The longer she spent in that room with _him_, the more reasons to wail she got.

When she was finally permitted to leave (which seemed like an eternity later), she stumbled through the deserted village to her home, her face grave and eyes dry.

She opened the door and came face to face with her father's wide eyes, and at his expression her lips quivered.

"Ringo, what happened?" Katsuro asked, worry evident in his voice "Why are you late? I asked some people about where you could-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, as the girl crashed against him, hugging him and crying on his chest.

The man uttered something in confusion, before embracing her.

"What happened?" He asked. His hands patted her back, as if trying to comfort her, but Ringo could tell he was uncomfortable with the situation.

"I want to go home." She sobbed.

"No, I mean what_ happened_? You didn't cry when we moved, but now you are like this? Something…"

Ringo went stiff. She didn't want to tell her father about Madara. She didn't know why – It wasn't as if she had had much choice – but she didn't want him to know that she was being treated like that, by _that_ person most of all. She was set on keeping the two of them apart and solving these issues by herself.

"I… I dropped a vase. It was some Shinobi's" She said, not bothering trying to hide the tremor in her voice. She knew it was partially because she was lying, but her father wouldn't know that "…He was really mad."

"Those people…" Katsuro sighed and shook his head. "Ringo, it was just a vase. That man is clearly out of his mind." She laughed in between tears, imagining he was talking about Madara instead of some ninja she made up "Tomorrow not even you will remember that. … A stupid vase…" He muttered the last part and snickered, making her laugh more. "I'll go make you some tea while you sit down, alright?" Ringo nodded, offering a small smile.

When she heard him mutter something that sounded like "psychotic ninja" she had to laugh again. Her father's words made her heart feel considerably lighter.

Ringo would have to watch out for outbursts like that in the near future. Though she had managed to fool Katsuro that night, she knew he would soon notice she was lying if she kept coming home in tears. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, before sitting down in front of the fireplace.

Crying was a futile exercise. It wasn't easy to control, but if there was someone who certainly would not react to her tears, that person was Madara. If anything, he would only use it to mock her. She reminded herself that those arrangements were for a short time, and that soon enough she'd be back home. And what was she crying about, anyway? He stepped on her – so what? It hadn't really hurt her physically, and though her pride was wounded, none other than Madara knew that. He couldn't even tell others, because they would think he was being irrational. She told herself that he had only done that because he couldn't stand having her on equal footing, and that thought made her smile.

The sound of incessant scribbling on parchments filled the room, in an almost musical rhythm. Madara had awoken motivated that morning, and the paperwork that was usually a dull task for him felt like child's play.

He was working diligently when the door was opened. Though the only person with the habit of coming in without knocking was his brother, there seemed to be a new trend of bursting into his office. So far he had been lenient with the offenders, but he reminded himself to start scolding them more often.

"Madara, we have to talk." Izuna entered the room, but his usual cheerful demeanor didn't follow.

"Ah, there you are." The other replied, trying to contain a smirk. He found it amusing that he was in such a good mode while his brother clearly wasn't. "Decided to help with the work?"

Izuna sat a pile of papers down on the table with a blank expression.

"I've filled several mission orders, read more mission reports, dealt with the paperwork for the bridges in Ryoshima and Shinshu, and have been answering Hitomi's letters. If you don't give her squad more missions she'll lunge at you."

Madara pulled the pile closer and examined it, feeling surprised but nonetheless proud that his little brother had filled all that without him having to ask for it.

"Good." He smiled "But the pile about the supplies is at least twice the size of yours."

"Since all the villagers to the northeast have been dislodged, it is to be expected that something like that would happen sooner or later."

"What are you complaining about? You were for moving them out too."

"I was and I still am." Izuna raised a hand "But we should deal with the Kaguya as soon as possible so they can return to their homes. I think we'll have to join the fight ourselves soon."

Madara muttered something that sounded like an affirmative and turned back to his work.

"Or we could find a way to make them help." The other pondered "I'm sure some of them would be of better use if they worked in their old jobs in different villages, rather than cleaning up _your_ mess."

The clan leader paused, setting his brush down, intertwined his fingers and rest the lower part of his face against his hands.

"So this is about Ringo, then."

"You didn't tell me she was here." Izuna's voice was bitter.

"Her village was in the list." Madara mocked.

"I'm talking about how she was assigned to clean your office." The younger brother hissed, clearly not in the mood for jokes "How did that happened?"

"Who knows." He shrugged "Sanae must have given her the task by accident."

"Really? Because I've heard that you forced Sanae to change her schedule so she wouldn't be able to choose anything she does."

"Who told you that?" Madara's smirk fell.

"Your kinsmen, maybe? And believe me, they aren't saying nice things. "

"The only method of acquiring information more reliable than gossiping is asking questions to stones." He replied with a dismissive gesture.

"I'd agree if I hadn't talked to Sanae and she had confirmed my suspicions." Izuna's expression softened and he sighed "I'm not worried about the clan's gossiping; they all respect you too much to really believe it or at least defy you. I'm worried about your health."

"I think I can deal with some peasant girl, but I appreciate your concern." He replied sarcastically "I have to get back to work now."

"Madara, you look pitiful." His brother said unceremoniously "You have been since the villagers arrived, and now I know why." The other rolled his eyes, but he continued "Just look at you! You don't sleep!"

"I hate to be the one who has to break the news for you, but I don't sleep." Madara waved sheets of paper in front of his brother "In fact, I sleep so little it has become a hobby rather than a basic need, and that's been going on for much longer than those villagers have been here – some girl wouldn't have any effect on it."

"Then why did you insist on giving her the worst possible chores and making it sure that she's close to you?" Izuna rebutted "If you can't let go of the past – In which case I don't blame you – you should make sure that you two won't cross paths, or kill her already."

"That seems so brusque coming from you." Madara joked.

"Perhaps, but I'd rather address anything that threatens you with finality. You're our best man; the clan needs you, and as the second in command, I can't let anything happen to you." The older brother's lips curled downwards, not liking where that conversation was going "Besides, you're my only family left, and I'd rather die than have you-"

"I'm done with this conversation." Madara interrupted and stood up, any previous trace of humor having left his voice "I hope you're in the mood for paperwork, because everything in my table is now your responsibility."

"Running away from your troubles won't make them disappear." Izuna called behind his back, even when the door was slammed shut.

Ringo's tasks were unpleasant. She couldn't tell if they were more or less than she had expected they would be, but she could say with certainty that she didn't like her new schedule.

Stable duty was as bad (if not worse) as she had thought. The smell was bearable, but the amount of strength required for the task was brutal. Even though she had some upper body strength from climbing trees, it became clear to her that cleaning stables was the kind of thing you needed practice with, much like tending trees. She still found a little comfort on the path to the stables, though, as it was buried in a forest, and walking towards it brought her memories of home.

The other tasks weren't too bad, but they weren't fun either.

She had decided that, if she couldn't choose her work conditions, she'd change jobs. Sure, it seemed that the one job that she could have at the moment that paid the most was as a maid, but she wasn't in dire need of money. Maybe she could find a job with one of the merchants that crowded the streets to the compound. She'd be vulnerable to the weather, but at least her shift would be shorter and she was sure her new employer wouldn't step on her.

After the fiasco in Madara's office, she was pleased to notice that, on the following days, he had not been there. She had expected him to show up at any moment – maybe jump from behind his desk to scream at her – but he didn't. She hoped that he would make a habit out of it, but as she entered and saw a dark silhouette at the desk she froze. She was about to get on her knees when she was interrupted.

"That's enough." Madara spoke, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture while using the other to fill papers. For a moment, Ringo thought he was thinking out loud "Forget this childishness and do your job."

She looked at him with suspicion and a hint of annoyance. He made it sound as if cleaning on her knees had been her idea!

"What?" Was all she could say, and she sounded more surprised than she had intended.

"This arrangement is counterproductive." He answered matter-of-factly "If you dawdle on your tasks, you'll only delay mine."

"Dawdle?!" She spat, all of her fear vanishing completely "I wasn't "dawdling"! You wouldn't let me-"

"Watch it." Madara cut her speech short "You should be glad you don't have to clean on your knees anymore, not complaining about it."

"You hypocrite!" The girl yelled, too angry at Madara for twisting her words to notice she had dropped the cleaning supplies and the bucket, sending water down to the wooden floor.

The man's expression soured.

"I'm being kind enough to you as it is. Clean."

Ringo frowned, but decided against questioning her luck and bent down to pick everything up. It was then that she thought that he wouldn't just decide he didn't want to torture her anymore. It was too suspicious.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Because I want to." He spoke with finality, sitting down at his desk and shuffling some of the papers laying on its surface.

"You go out of your way to make sure I have the worst tasks possible, and then you suddenly decide you don't care about your petty revenge anymore?" She scoffed "I'm not falling for that."

Madara stopped what he was doing and turned to her with a sardonic smirk playing on his lips.

"That doesn't even begin to cover half my idea of what "petty revenge" is." He answered, and though Ringo did her best to keep her face determinate, she felt very wary at his reply "Don't flatter yourself. I have no intention of wasting any more time with you than I already did."

"Why are you talking to me as if you were the victim?" She scoffed

"Why are _you_?"

"Because I _am_!" The girl yelled, stupefied, and he 'tsc'ed at her.

"So awfully self-centered..." He sounded regretful.

"Oh, _I_ am the self-centered one?" Ringo's lips curled upwards, but there was nothing happy about her smile. "Are you sure?"

"And loud too. I was almost forgetting that."

"I don't believe it." She shook her head "You are scheming something, that's gotta be it."

"Enough." Madara's tone darkened "I'm done with this foolishness."

"You started it!" She screeched.

"Therefore, nothing more fitting than I end it, no?" The man sneered, sending her a final glare before returning to his work.

Ringo shot him a dirty glance, but he wasn't looking. She decided she should clean and get that day over with as soon as possible so she could go home.

"Besides" she thought bitterly "If Madara is plotting something, I wouldn't be able to stop him."

The minutes ticked by eventlessly. None of the two attempted to engage in another conversation, focusing on their respective tasks instead. Madara only reacted when Ringo approached to wipe his desk and sweep the floor under his chair, standing up to lie on the couch. He seemed to be using the opportunity to take a break.

Once she was finished, Ringo pondered if she should say something or not. She decided that she didn't have to give him any satisfactions and walked to the door.

"Are you finished?" A deep voice rumbled behind her and she had to control the urge to sigh.

"Yes." She answered unenthusiastically, and heard shuffling coming from the seat.

"Turn around." Madara spoke "Look at me when I speak to you."

The girl's shoulders were dropped and her expression bored as she did so. The man scanned her disapprovingly.

"Tell me you are not egocentric enough to think I have no reasons to hate you."

Ringo's eyes widened the slightest bit and her posture stiffened. Of course she wasn't, but she hadn't thought of that in the longest of times. She didn't want to put herself in Madara's shoes, because it was so much easier to simply think of him as a monster. She was aware that a grudge was hardly a good reason to take a certain action, but she wondered how she'd react, had she been in his place, and what she could have done in the past to avoid the current state of things. She could not find a definite answer.

"No…" Her voice was hoarse as she averted her eyes to her feet "I'm not."

The man remained silent, and she was glad he didn't press on the matter.

"Do…" She drew a shuddery breath "Do you hate me?"

The air felt thick as she waited for an answer, and she was sure the time was passing three times slower than it usually was.

"No" He spoke thoughtfully, and she almost sighed with relief "Hating you would be a waste." She wondered of what "But don't think I regard you in the same way I used to."

She nodded. That was not a problem.

"So… about my schedule-"

"Your schedule remains the same, and if you wish to enjoy the remainder of your day, I suggest you go home." His voice was somewhere between amusement and annoyance, and for a moment she saw him as she had known him when they were younger, how he often treated her like a child who liked to pester him but was simultaneously awed by most of the things he did or the stories he told.

And that was really what she used to be then.

Ringo nodded and left, half expecting Madara to call her back. When he didn't, she closed the door slowly.

She sighed almost imperceptibly and walked away.

It had been a few weeks since Madara revoked his senseless order, and Ringo was now convinced that he wasn't scheming against her. She had no idea what had caused the sudden change, but she wouldn't question her luck.

In spite of this, Ringo saw no problem in trying to make conversations, even if it meant talking to the walls. Often times he would just let her speak while going about with his business. She suspected he didn't even pay attention to her on these occasions, but she wasn't complaining. The only real down side of these arrangements was that he suddenly started pointing flaws on her cleaning. For someone with such a messy workspace, he sure could be meticulous.

"You are Ringo, correct?"

Ringo turned around from her task and came face to face with a tall man. He looked sad, but she figured it was his normal expression.

"Yes?"

"Izuna-sama has requested to see you."

"Izuna? Why?" She hadn't seen Izuna in years. It was strange that she met Madara on her first day working, but she had not once even thought of Izuna being there – they had been friends, hadn't they? She felt guilty.

"I do not know." The man's expression didn't change in the slightest, as he turned around and started walking "Please, follow me."

The girl wanted to strike a conversation, even if just to satisfy her curiosity as to whether he was a messenger or not, but decided against it. Her guide didn't look like he was very fond of talking.

She was led through a number of corridors and directed to a door that looked just like any other in the area.

The room, too, was normal. It was definitely a bedroom, even though it didn't look like it belonged to an ordinary soldier. It was quite spacious and in the wall opposite to the entrance there was a sliding door leading to an inside garden. It was rather fancy, but she had assumed that the chambers of someone in Izuna's position would have been more protected, with thick stone walls and small barred windows, fit only for a dungeon. Instead, the chamber was light and airy, and she wouldn't mind spending time in a place like that.

"Ringo." A voice called from a corner and she turned to see Izuna – much taller than she remembered –, sitting at a table and smiling at her. It was a genuine smile and she was glad that the first time she saw him in so long he was being so friendly. "I would invite you to sit down, but I don't plan on taking much of your time so… well, help yourself if you want."

"Izuna, is this your room?" She asked approaching the table, while her eyes surveyed her surroundings enthusiastically.

"I knew that the people of your village would be dislodged to the compound, but I really hadn't thought about the possibility of meeting you." He sighed. Even though the man's tone wasn't hostile, Ringo recoiled, suddenly feeling uneasy after her attempt at small-talk had been adverted so quickly "Funny, no? I was surprised when I found out that you had been assigned to clean Madara's office. I know he treated you poorly at first, and that was to be expected, but fortunately things have become better."

"Because Madara has made sure that _you_ will be the one to clean his office, I'm sure it's for reasons other than your abilities as a maid, and since he's treating you like a human being now, we shouldn't have any problems. I really do hope we'll get along for as long as you're here, so I'm not too happy about what I'm about to say. I am sorry, but if this sounds like a threat, it's because it is." The girl flinched, but that didn't deter his monologue "I'd advise you to do anything he tells you. Because he's the leader of this clan and my dearest brother, his health and happiness are my top priority. If I find out that your presence is affecting my top priority negatively rather than positively, I promise I will destroy the things you hold dear one by one until you get it right." He finished with a sound akin to a hiss, and Ringo would have given a step back if her legs weren't shaking so much.

She was sure things were going so well with Madara; there was no way he'd have complained to Izuna, was there? Spending time with the clan head was starting to feel less like a punishment and more like a reward – and now she felt as if she was being offered as a sacrifice to a carnivorous beast as in one of the stories her mother used to tell her. Izuna sounded as if he had a good mind to strap her to an altar so a hungry wolf could ravage her intestines.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, and she was utterly surprised at the change in his tone "I… Just go back to your work."

He sent her out with a dismissive gesture of his hand, and she high-tailed out of there.

Ringo rubbed a single spot in the cheery wood desk absent-mindedly. She had been thinking about her conversation with Izuna – if that could be considered that – so intently, that she didn't even notice when someone else entered the room and came to stand right behind her.

"I think that's enough." A mocking voice said, making her spin around.

Madara was standing there with a smirk on his face, as if her cleaning that specific spot compulsively was a funny sight.

"I wasn't really thinking…" She replied with a sheepish smile

"And when do you ever?" He asked, though from his tone it was obvious he was joking.

"When you're not looking." She beamed.

The man didn't answer and merely sat at his desk, frowning slightly at the pile of papers, before taking a few in his hands and examining them.

"Madara" She uttered, testing the waters. Since he didn't give any signs of being annoyed, she decided to poise her question "Are we friends?"

"Of course not." He answered in a heartbeat, not turning away from his work "You just happen to be a half-decent source of amusement. And it's _Madara-sama_ for you."

"So I'm your jester now?" Ringo smirked, stopping with her work.

"_And_ maid." He corrected.

"Do I get twice the pay?" She asked with a hopeful grin.

"You get the _honor _of working for your beloved leader, and that's already more than you deserve." Madara smirked, even though his eyes were still focused on the papers on his desk. She wondered how he could talk to her and fill documents at the same time.

"I would rather have twice the pay." She muttered.

"If you don't start doing your job you'll get no payment, _and_ I'll throw you out through the window." The man answered cheerfully, and Ringo turned to the only window in the room. It was large, almost occupying the entire wall, but she had never seen it opened before. The door was always closed too, and she was surprised Madara hadn't suffocated in that place yet.

"Why do you stay locked in here?"

"Not locked." He rebutted, and Ringo looked back at him curiously "I never lock the door or the window. Clean."

Ringo immediately crouched to roll the rug so she could sweep the floor, but her questions were not over yet.

"No, I meant, how can you stay in here when everything is so dark? You have to read, doesn't it bother you?"

Madara didn't answer her question, but she was sure he had heard it.

"We used to be friends." She murmured, not really thinking about what she was saying. She just wanted to talk.

"How old are you?" He snapped, dropping the papers and turning to the startled girl, and his glare made her feel as if he was piercing her flesh with just his eyes. "Why are you so adamant about the concept of "friendship"? If you want to form bonds with people so bad, at least choose some that are reliable."

"My friends are reliable!" She protested (even though she had no idea what adamant meant). "I love them!"

"Would you die for them?" Madara asked. Though his voice was calm, his expression was of a scowl.

"Of course!"

"No you wouldn't." He leaned back on his chair and she growled at him. How dared he say to which extent she loved others? "And even if you would – and you wouldn't – _they_ wouldn't die for you. You'll see just how trustworthy your friends really are as you grow older."

"Oh, shut up! You're acting like-"

"Get out." Those two words, couple with Madara's tone made her freeze, for reasons she couldn't explain. The only answer she could muster was a startled "What?!"

"Leave." He pointed to the door "Before I put you out myself."

Ringo had no idea how things escalated that quickly. One moment they were joking, and the other they started arguing and now he was mad at her.

Remembering Izuna's words, she paled.

"W-wait, I-"

"Is your brain so deficient you can't understand a simple order?" He sneered, interrupting her stuttered speech "Out!"

Ringo didn't even bother gathering her cleaning supplies and ran off, not daring to look behind.

She had made Madara _really_ mad. She tried to remember exactly what she had said that caused him to snap like that, and finally realized she had told him to shut up. Had she felt that comfortable around him that she thought it was appropriate to _tell him to shut up_? The only person whom she had ever said that to before was Michio, and even when she was furious, she never said that to anyone else.

So why did she have to say that to Madara, especially when Izuna had threatened her just the other day? What if he found out? She was sure Madara wouldn't nag about her, but Izuna was bound to notice his change of temperament and blame her for it. And he wouldn't be wrong.

No, that was completely ridiculous! She had done nothing to cause his initial outburst. Even if she hadn't told him to shut up, he'd still have been mad. She just made an innocent comment, and Madara had reacted explosively for no good reason. It could have happened to anyone else.

Ringo pouted.

He started it.

Ringo extended her open palm and looked up with a frown. She could smell rain.

It baffled others that she and her father could predict the approaching of a storm, but that had always seemed like second nature to her.

"Riki, it's going to start raining soon." She commented, turning to her companion.

That very morning, she had decided to use the day to look for a different job. Though she didn't like the idea of spending her only free day of the week doing something like that, she reckoned it was for the better. Maybe Madara could change her schedule, but he certainly had no authority to force her to work as a maid.

She was immensely glad when she met her friend outside by chance, and when she told him what she was doing, he offered to go along. That would make the trip a lot more fun.

"Really?" He asked, furrowing his brows at the blue sky "Well, you're always right about that, Rin-chan."

The young woman beamed and skipped ahead of him.

"Thank you for coming with me!" She sang, turning to him while skipping backwards.

"Hey, watch it or you're going to trip!" Riki grinned, and she shook her head.

"I have eyes on my back!"

"I hope we'll have more luck now." Ringo smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

They had spent the whole morning walking from store to store, but none seemed to be interested on hiring her – or if they were, they didn't have enough money to pay for an extra helping hand. The variety of jobs in the village wasn't the greatest, and since Ringo had no special skills and an uncanny inability with numbers, the only thing she seemed to be good for was cleaning.

"I'm sure we will." She nodded "And we could use the rain as incentive to get things done sooner!"

The girl was still walking backwards, as they were in the less crowded part of the village, just outside the walls surrounding the compound, so there was plenty of space for the two of them, so much so, she didn't even bother paying attention to her surroundings, and the only warning she had was Riki's gasp, before she crashed against something.

She was about to tumble backwards, but someone gripped her forearm and helped her in place, albeit not very gently. Ringo would have been angry if a stranger touched her like that, but since she was the one who caused the accident, she turned around and was about to apologize to the person when she saw who it was.

Because of course it would be_ him_.

Madara released her arm, and Ringo couldn't help but notice his smirk. He seemed very pleased with himself.

"Afternoon." He said, his tone jeering, turned to Riki and then did something that made the girl's jaw drop.

He barked.

Though she knew he was rude and got a strange pleasure out of making fun of others, Ringo was bewildered at how he had decided to "greet" her friend. For one, it was incredibly childish, and she wouldn't have expected him to resort to that, and second, why was he smiling and joking as if he was close to them? Wasn't he mad at her just the other day? What could have made him change his temper in less than twenty-four hours? And that reminded her of the other times when he had changed his demeanor towards her in a matter of seconds.

_Was he fucking bipolar?!_

"What are you doing?!" She screamed, having to hold herself to keep from slapping her hand over her mouth. Why did she always have to be so loud?

"I _was_ walking when you bumped into me. And you? I trust you didn't go out just to lunge at people." He raised an eyebrow

"I wasn't-!"

"Ringo, let's go." Riki interrupted her, jerking his head backwards as if motioning for them to come back the way they came. That_ did_ seem like the best course of action now that they had been interrupted.

"Why don't you stay quiet like a good watch dog while your owner is busy?" Madara reprimanded with a wrinkling of his nose.

Ringo had expected her friend to simply scoff and turn away, because arguing back was unlike him, and so she was surprised when he did just that.

"It doesn't matter if you're now the clan's head or what, you are not entitled to treat people in whatever way you like." The girl was amazed at how he managed to speak so calmly. She was used to standing up for him ever since they were children, so she had no idea he could be so eloquent when he wanted to. Despite the change in his behavior, Madara didn't seem to be affected by it.

"It speaks!" He said with mock surprise.

"Can you at least tell me why you treat me like crap?" Riki inquired "Or do you act like that with everyone?"

"Only people who make me ashamed of being a man." Madara's tone and expression were now business-like "Or who don't realize their presence is no longer required. Double that and there you are."

"Nevermind, we're leaving." Ringo decided it would be better if she stepped in, and she had already given her back to the two men when one of them sighed.

"And here I was thinking of changing your schedule…"

"What?" She turned around instantly and stared up at Madara. "What of my schedule?"

"I'm willing to negotiate your work conditions with no decreases in your wage." He explained with that stupid smirk plastered on his face. There had to be a catch… "But that's a onetime offering. You can take it now or not take it at all."

Ringo hesitated, pausing to think about it. If she could keep her job but change the tasks – especially the ones involving Madara – that would be ideal.

"Should I take that as no?"

"Wait!" She cried before he could move "…I wouldn't have to clean your office then?"

"WHAT?" Riki yelled and she flinched, feeling very, very stupid. None of the people of her village knew about her tasks up until now, and this was how she wished it would have remained.

"We can arrange that." Madara gave a court nod and then gestured to the wall surrounding the compound "Shall we?"

"Why were you cleaning his office?" Riki asked before she could reply "Does your father know about that?"

"Riki I-" The girl's eyes widened "I… Don't tell him, okay?"

"He doesn't? Why didn't you tell him?"

"There was no need to! Look" She put a hand over his shoulder. "I've got this. I didn't say anything because there was nothing to say."

"You'd have told us anyway!" The young man argued "It's not like you to hide stuff."

"I'm not-"

"I'll be taking my leave, then." Madara spoke casually, walking by them.

"I'm coming!" The girl yelled, then turned back to her friend "Don't tell father, ok? It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that-?!"

"Please." Her tone was more firm than pleading, and that seemed to send an electric current through Riki's body. His expression became bitter, but he nodded nonetheless.

She gave him a sheepish smile before turning around and running to catch up with Madara.

"What's your issue?" She hissed once she was within his ear-range.

"You're lucky the streets are empty, because I wouldn't go through the ridicule of being yelled at by a maid otherwise."

Ringo flushed and examined her surroundings, to make sure there were no witnesses other than Riki. She wasn't concerned about Madara's reputation as much as she was concerned about hers. Not that she had any, but she'd rather it remained like that.

"Wait, are we going to your office?" She asked

"Do you have your schedule with you?"

"No…" She admitted, and he shook his head

"Then Sanae's. I don't keep archives on the maids." The girl mouthed an "O". That made sense.

"It's going to be really awkward if I walk beside you, isn't it?"

"Then walk behind me. You know the way."

Ringo nodded slowly, letting herself fall behind. Madara sounded somewhat dejected, and that quite frankly creeped her out. It was probably just her mind paying tricks on her, but just the idea of Madara being depressed made her feel very insecure all of the sudden.

As they neared the stronghold, the streets became more and more crowded, and Ringo tried her best to avoid looking like she was following him. She noticed that most people greeted Madara when he walked by, and he responded to them with a nod of acknowledgment.

She had learned enough about the people who lived in that village to know that they respected him a lot more than the people in her hometown did. He hardly ever was a topic of discussion between them, and when he was, only of the older villagers' conversations. There, however, he was one of the most popular subjects, and people respected him a lot – even if that didn't mean he was impervious to being the source of snarky jokes once in a while.

When she arrived at Sanae's office, Madara was standing in front of the door, his hand millimeters away from the surface and his head almost touching the wood, as if he was trying to listen to what was happening on the inside. He suddenly frowned and opened the door, entering the room, and she followed suit.

The place was empty, and Ringo was surprised to find him raking through the drawers in Sane's desk, as if looking for something.

"You don't know where things are?"

"It's not my office."

"Can you really look through her stuff?"

Madara didn't answer, but the silence told everything she needed to know: Even though he shouldn't, he'd do it anyway because none would try to stop him.

"Make yourself useful and help me." He ordered, and Ringo ran to his side and started rummaging through one of the shelves.

They spent the next few minutes examining the papers in the room, until someone knocked on the door. Ringo thought it was strange, since the entrance was wide open, but when she heard a voice singing 'Sanae-chaaaaaan?' she realized that the purpose behind that action was of affection rather than respect.

A man emerged from behind the door and Ringo almost gawked at him. He was huge, as tall as her father, if not taller. His dark hair was graying, but full and wild, and Ringo concluded he was on his early fifties, not much older than Katsuro, but unlike him, the man was large, with broad-shoulders, and looked strong enough to carry a horse on his back. But the thing that scared her the most was his predatory grin, and she instinctively hid behind Madara.

"Madara-sama?" The man furrowed his brows in confusion, but his smile remained unaltered "What are you doing here?"

"Isao, you know how Sanae organizes everything, don't you?"

"Yeah, the basics, at least." The man nodded.

"Then help me find some archives."

"Of course!" Isao spoke cheerfully, finally entering the office, and Ringo sucked in as much air as she could in one breath. Even in the day she had been in that same room with four other people, she didn't feel as suffocated as she felt at the moment. There was no hostility emanating from the man, but his presence alone was overbearing, even more than Madara's, and she wanted nothing more than to get out of that place. "What are you looking for exactly?"

"Her schedule." The clan leader stepped aside, ruining her cover. Her blood ran cold when the giant's eyes fell upon her.

"Hello." Isao leaned closer, giving her a smile she didn't like one bit "And what might your name be, dear?"

"Ringo." She replied, surprised at how fast the answer came from her mouth.

"Ringo?" The man's eyes and smile widened "But my, that's such a cute name!"

She reddened at his words.

"Pay him no heed." Madara advised her, though he was looking at the other shinobi "Isao doesn't seem to be able to keep his mouth shut."

"Oh, forgive me, Madara-sama." The man looked genuinely sorry, before assuming a mischievous expression "I will not intrude in your… business."

From the little she could see of Madara's face, he looked very annoyed.

"But…" Isao paused, and looked at Ringo "When your schedule was last modified? Sanae keeps them in chronological order."

Ringo raked through her brain for the time, but she wasn't of exactly how long it had been.

"Five weeks and six days." Madara answered for her.

Isao looked through some folders on a shelf and brought out a slip of paper. He eyed the paper and smiled at his success, but as he examined it longer, his expression changed. His eyes were fixated on the clan leader, and he eyed him intently, before shooting her a brief glance. That whole situation made her feel extremely conscious.

"There you are, dear." He suddenly extended the paper to her, but when she was about to grab it, he pulled it out of her reach "Say, I know you're not from here, but you look awfully familiar. Have we ever met before?"

That man was absolutely strange to her, and she was sure she would have remembered having seen someone like him.

"Is this what you say to every woman you meet?" Madara asked, raising an eyebrow, and Ringo almost flinched when she caught the meaning behind his words.

"Oh, no!" Isao laughed soundly "I was being honest! But I promise I will try harder next time, Madara-sama."

Because he was busy with Madara, Ringo used the opportunity to quickly snatch her schedule from the man's hand and crush it at her side, afraid he would try to take it back, but to her surprise he looked amused.

"Isn't she something?" He smiled, and she immediately regretted drawing his attention back to her.

"Thank you for your help." Madara spoke somewhat brusquely, and with a single step he was out of the room.

"It's always a pleasure." Isao didn't seem to notice – or to care – about the other's tone.

"Come." She didn't have to be told twice.

He walked quickly, and Ringo made sure to stay close behind. She didn't care if other people saw them so close; she just wanted to get as far away from the other man as fast as she could.

Once in his office, he instructed her to take the chair in front of the desk and wait, and so she did. She felt somewhat smug being allowed to sit down like a guest, especially when she was so used to the ground.

It didn't take Madara long to finish filling the schedule, and she was pleased with the outcome. Her tasks now consisted of helping to tend to the orchard on Saturdays and tending to some interior gardens two days of the week, and she didn't have to work in the stables anymore; she was to clean some of the bedchambers of the east wing everyday and help with the cooking four times a week; She still had to scrub the floors of the entrance hall and several corridors, and now also had to help organizing the food storage, but those were the last of her concerns. Now she didn't have to clean his office anymore.

She was only so happy until she realized that she wasn't alone in the world. Because every spot needed to be filled, when someone's schedule was altered, at least one other person's would have the same fate. Since Madara changed hers alone, that could only mean that Sanae would have to rearrange other people's schedules to accommodate her.

She looked up, to find Madara examining her reaction. When he saw her less-than-pleased expression he grinned sardonically.

"What? Did you like your old schedule better?" He was obviously joking, but Ringo couldn't bring herself to answer appropriately. She did like the tasks he had assigned to her, but she didn't feel comfortable just taking them.

He seemed to have noticed that she was serious, as his expression darkened.

"You mean to tell me you're not taking it?" He waited a few seconds before continuing, sounding more impatient "Do you intend on wasting my time? Or…" His glare was so unbearable she turned away "Are you really just wasting my time?"

"I…" She stammered "I have to go." She stood up from her chair and tried to run towards the door, but she was immediately seized by the forearm and spun around.

Madara's gaze on her was heavy and he was far too close for comfort. With his free hand he forced her palm open, shoved the slip of paper in it, and then forced it closed again.

"This is your new schedule. You _will_ take it." His tone left no room for argument "In eight days I'll be leaving to deal with the Kaguya for once and for all. We'll leave before noon, and I want to see you before I go. I'll be in my office; show up at seven."

She stared at him in disbelief. Just from where did all that come from? Why did he want to talk to her then? Couldn't he do that now?

"Did I make myself clear?" he asked, and she nodded curtly, even though she was unsure.

He let go of her and she gave a step back, looking down at her feet.

"Can I go now?"

"Yes."

She nodded once more and left, refusing to make eye contact.

Why was it that every time she was around Madara something like this would happen? Things would go from fantastic to hectic in a matter of seconds, and for no apparent reason. She felt drained.

Alright, she would meet him in eight days. She had no idea what could possibly require her presence, especially in a week and not that very moment, but she didn't want to ask him. She simply had to accept that Madara would often go crazy for no reason, and that trying to make sense of whatever he did in those moments was pointless.

She walked back home, briefly thinking about Riki. Did he go home after he left? Did he really keep her secret? Ringo wondered if she shouldn't have just given up on working at the stronghold just so she wouldn't have to go through all that trouble.

She wondered what he could possibly want with her.

She found Riki in the outskirts of the village, just outside the house he and his family used. It was bigger than hers, but it was understandable since there were more people.

"Hi." She said approaching him, and was worried when he didn't respond at first.

"Oh, hi." Riki greeted back when she sat by his side at the porch. He didn't seem too enthusiastic.

"Look!" She searched through her pockets and drew out her schedule, showing it to him proudly.

"Ah, you did change it." He nodded.

"Well, of course. I said I would."

"I was thinking, was your schedule too bad before?" He asked frowning "I mean, besides the obvious."

"It was. I even had stable duty."

"They have a stable?!" Riki seemed genuinely surprised before shaking his head "Nevermind; How did you get stable duty? If I knew they had something like that…"

"I don't know." She shrugged "Maybe they got confused or something. Maybe from my name they thought I was a guy!" Ringo then laughed, but her friend only shook his head.

"Why did _he_ want to change your schedule now? Why not before?" Riki's eyes narrowed, more dangerously than she ever thought they could. But maybe that was just her mind playing tricks on her.

"I don't know!" She replied defensively "Why would I have asked him?"

"You really shouldn't, but I just thought he was acting strange."

"He always acts strange, Riki." Ringo reminded him patiently. That was something she could state with certainty.

"No, I mean… I didn't like the way he acted, I didn't like the way he looked at you. It was just weird." Ringo felt a very unpleasant shiver go through her body.

"Well, that's ok, since I won't be seeing him anymore." She lied "No harm done!"

"Really?" Riki asked "What happened when you were cleaning his office?"

"Nothing." She felt her hands trembling, mostly of guilt "He was almost never there. He'd usually ignore me when he was there, or be kind of rude. No scars!" That much was true, and she felt somewhat pleased that at least something she was saying wasn't a blatant lie.

He stared at her, and for a moment she thought he had seen right through her, when he sighed at last.

"Okay then. I won't tell Katsuro about it." Ringo's face brightened up.

"Thank you, Riki! Really, there was nothing to worry about!"

"Well, I hope so. At least you won't be seeing _him _again."

She smiled nervously. She really wanted to confess she had lied.

"So… I guess I'll be going now?" The girl half asked half affirmed.

"Wait." He stopped her "We haven't spent time with you and your father lately so… would you two like to come for dinner?"

"Of course! But wouldn't your mother have to cook more food?"

"That's ok." He laughed nervously when she looked at him disapprovingly "I've made more money than I thought I would, so we're not short on food. I can help her with cooking too; since it's just two people, there should be no problem."

"Eh… Can you really cook?" She asked with a twitchy smile.

"Nope! But I'm a fast learner!" He sounded too proud for her liking.

"Listen, I'll tell father and we'll show up earlier to help with the cooking, ok?" She told him, standing up to leave.

"That would be better." He nodded and waved, as she smiled and walked away. "See you soon!"

Since that day, Ringo hadn't seen Madara even once. Though she was happy to be away from his constant change of temperament, she couldn't deny that her routine felt considerably duller. Maybe his moodiness was the reason for her routine being somewhat more exciting, but she supposed she couldn't have everything.

She knocked on the door and didn't have to wait long before a voice from inside told her to come in.

Ringo entered the room, closing the door behind her. She watched as Madara inspected his weapons, no doubt checking if they would be enough for the battle that was to come.

"Hello." She greeted, drawing his attention to her. He waved a hand, as if saying she should get inside.

However, he didn't make any attempt to explain why he had called her.

"Say, have you ever fought a Kaguya before?" Ringo tried to strike a conversation.

"Yes, a couple of times."

"Ah, then I'm guessing it'll be easy for you." She pressed on "Really boring too."

"That I doubt. They don't fight according to norms…" He trailed off, pausing to take off the glove clothing one of his hands "Come see this."

The peasant approached him and eyed the skin. There were a few scratches here and there, but what sent a shiver down her spine were the stitches that ran across his palm in a crescent shape.

"I approached one I thought had died and then he launched at me." Madara explained, eying the scar with something that almost looked like pride "The viper wouldn't let go even after he really was dead."

"He… bit you?" She asked, somewhat shocked. He saw the disbelief in her face and smirked.

Ringo didn't notice, though, as her eyes were drawn to the wound. She reached out to it instinctively, but the man pulled his hand back and eyed her warily.

"I'm sorry." She muttered and adverted her gaze "Does it still hurt?"

"No." He put the glove back on, his tone clearly stating that that conversation was over.

He didn't say anything, and even seemed to have forgotten about her presence. She had to think of something to say.

"So… When you defeat the Kaguya I can go home?" It was the first thing that came to her mind. That was just a conversation starter, like asking "How are you?", so she was shocked when he gave her a negative answer. What did he mean; if the Kaguya weren't a threat anymore, why couldn't she go back home?

"Before you can go back the villages have to be scouted to make sure they are still safe and habitable, and that could take a month. If there are problems, we'll have to fix things, and that means more time and more money." He sighed, and she couldn't help but notice how exhausted he looked.

"Oh." She nodded "That makes sense… And when are you going to come back?"

"With luck, in a couple of weeks" He then grimaced "But it could take up to two months. And assuming I won't have to solve the villages' problems."

Madara turned his attention back to his belongings, checking bags and pouches, some containing objects she had never seen before.

She didn't know what else to say, nor did she want to leave right now, so she sat in the couch. She didn't know if she was allowed to, but she'd do it anyway. If he had a problem with that, he should have said before.

After a few silent minutes, Madara finished with what he was doing, and turned around. Instead of telling her to get up from the sofa he walked to the opposite end and sat down as well.

"May I open the window?" Ringo asked as soon as she felt the weight upon the seat shifting.

"You may not."

"But it's good!" She argued "mold loves dark and humid places."

"My office is _not_ humid." Madara spat "And if it were, they only person to blame would be you."

"Please, just let me draw the curtains!" She pleaded, joining her hands and leaning closer to him.

"Fine!" He conceded, clearly irritated "…Spoiled brat."

The girl frowned, offended at his choice of words, but stood up and walked to the window anyway.

The sky was a beautiful blue color, even at that time of the morning. The streets were just beginning to fill with people, and the leaves in the trees rustled with the wind. She longed to feel the breeze, but was afraid Madara wouldn't like it.

"Madara, may I-"

"Do what you want." He interrupted, and Ringo felt bad for doing what she wanted in spite of him. His lips were pressed together and curled downwards, while he covered his eyes with one hand.

"Am I annoying you?" She offered with a small smile the man didn't get to see.

"Yes."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"Just stop asking questions." He waved one of his hands in a gesture she couldn't identify, but it had seemed pretty rude.

Ringo huffed and opened the window to let the glorious breeze cool down the room and run through her hair, tangling it. She wondered how Madara could shut himself in that place every day and keep sane. Then, again, maybe he wasn't exactly sane.

She turned around and watched with mild interest as the man stretched his arms. His eyes were still closed, but his expression had softened considerably. She noticed that his side of the couch wasn't being illuminated by the sunlight, but the one she had been on was.

"You're thinking of something." She affirmed, while sitting down on the opposite end of the sofa.

"How did you get to this conclusion?" His voice was sarcastic, making her shake her head.

"And you don't want to tell me about it."

"Obviously."

"I could help! If there's something troubling you, you can tell me! I'm good at these things!"

Madara chuckled darkly, and she flinched, wondering what she had said that had been funny.

"Oh, look who cares about me now." There was laughter in his voice, but it was not of mirth. "What makes you think I'm troubled?"

"You've been acting strange, like there's too much on your mind."

"For how long have I been acting strange?" He asked, and paused before saying her name, as if instructing her to answer.

That caught her by surprise. Ringo couldn't remember a single time when she had heard him say her name, as he usually called her with an 'oi' or a 'hey'.

"I… I don't really know. A couple weeks, I guess." She replied, looking to the hands on her lap.

Madara nodded, uncovering his eyes, but still not looking at her.

They remained like this for some time, staring in opposite directions for what seemed like an eternity, until Madara broke the silence.

"It's time." He declared, quickly scanning his office "Or I'll be late to meet with the rest of the army."

"Ah, okay." Ringo replied, not daring to look at him.

"You look unhappy." He joked, standing up and gathering his belongings.

"I'm not. I'm just… thinking." She answered, smiling at how silly her words sounded "Anyway, good luck with the Kaguya. And…don't get bit again!" The girl added cheerfully, trying to brighten the mood.

"Only an idiot would make the same mistake twice." He replied "Are you an idiot?"

Ringo would have been offended by his question, but she wasn't. There was no malice or mockery behind it; it was literally just a question, and instead of being mad, she found herself pondering over what to answer.

She never thought herself to be a genius. She had her moments, but she reckoned she acted stupid with the same frequency. She was… probably just normal.

"I don't think so." She said, looking at her feet in embarrassment. She found her own words hard to believe "…I hope not."

"So do I." Madara mused out loud and came to stand in front of her.

Under his gaze, Ringo wiggled unconsciously in her seat.

It was obvious that he wanted her to say something, but she didn't know what it was.

"Good luck." Was the best she could come up with.

"Really?" He snorted, seemed somewhat amused by her words "Is this the best you can do?"

"Why did you call me here?" She was getting fed up with whatever game it was he was playing. "What do you want from me?"

His expression changed again and he leaned closer. The girl suddenly felt very aware when one of his hands landed just beside her head. He only stared at her for a few seconds before smirking, royally confusing her.

"You are so slow." He said, pausing at each word before narrowing his eyes "Then why is it…"

Ringo instinctively pressed her back against the seat and stared him in the eyes, trying to predict what his next move would be.

Madara examined her reaction with (perhaps) curiosity then took his hand away and leaned backwards, a smirk still plastered on his face.

"I will take your "luck", then." He said and stepped away from her "But I will have to ask you to leave."

Ringo furrowed her brows in confusion and he sighed.

"I am leaving, Ringo. You can't stay in my office after I'm gone."

"Oh, you're right!" She exclaimed, rising from her seat with a startled jump. "Sorry."

He shook his head and motioned towards the exit with it.

The peasant quickly crossed the portal and waited outside as Madara did the same, albeit not with the same haste.

He closed the door behind him – not locking, she noticed – and sent her an unidentifiable glance before turning and walking down the hallway.

That was a strange goodbye, and Ringo would feel uncomfortable if things just ended like that. Then she felt silly for that thought. What _things_? There were no _things_, and most certainly nothing was ending. She wondered where those thoughts came from.

"I know you're going to kick their butts!" She called out without thinking (though she was immensely glad there was none else nearby).

Madara turned around, sporting the most expressive face she had seen him using since… well, ever. His brows were furrowed and his face was split by a disbelieving grin.

"How old are you? Just say asses."

She looked around, biting her lower lip.

"Their asses." She corrected with a wry smile "Happy now?"

"Not at all." He turned around, still grinning and walked down the corridor.

Ringo stood in the same place until she couldn't see his retreating form anymore, then leaned against the nearest wall.

He wasn't happy? Though she had cursed, and showed up in his office, and taken the new schedule even when she felt bad for it, and… and everything. In the end, she had done everything he wanted (albeit not always happily), and yet Madara _wasn't happy at all_?

Well, neither was she.

Ringo felt her eyes prickle, so she covered them with a shaky hand, while clutching her apron close to her chest with the other one.

_Please don't take long._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My impression of Madara: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Now, this is mostly just a collection of things that happened, so the time line is messed up. The purpose of this epilogue (freaking long for an epilogue, if I might add) was to soften chapter 12. I think it progressed too fast, but at the same time, if I made the whole thing develop in the proper pace, I would have to make a bunch of other chapters and I ain't doing that. I think it feels like a shoujo chapter or something; it doesn't please me too much, although it was fun to write.

And now… I shall beg for REVIEWS to whoever may be reading this, because I'm sad not many people were interested in talking about the story. I'm not even asking for a full-review; just a commentary on what you thought of the story overall would be really nice. So, if you're so kind, REVIEW PLEASE~ I know that since this is the last chapter I can't threaten anybody, saying that I will not post until I receive a certain amount of reviews, but I would never do that anyways; first because I think it's bitchy, and second because I know that my story wasn't _that _popular.

On a second thought, it's probably not as popular as I would have liked because I didn't over sexualize Madara and wrote some lemons. I've nothing against lemons per se, but I noticed that as long as you make Madara a perv in those love stories, you can get away with pretty much anything. I talked to a friend and she agreed that it seems that texts with no paragraphs, bad grammar, no logical sequence and poor character development can be forgiven with just two words: MADARA TARADÃO. Q issu jovens? (Ah, I do so hope you aren't Brazilian…)

Enough ranting! There are, after all, good fanfictions about Madara that do receive a good amount of attention, so maybe I just didn't appeal too much (man, I'm so passive-aggressive!)

Many thanks to the people who helped me out: One of my friends, who dutifully read and commented on all the chapters so far and helped me with a scene I was having trouble with (If you're reading this, lady, as soon as I get home I'll show up at your house with flowers and chocolate, Sua linda!); Another friend, who even though mocks me for my infatuation with Madara, has given me suggestions for some kissing scenes and helped me figure out how much of a Mary-Sue my OC is; Yet another friend (who I think died drowning in textbooks; a moment of silence, please *silence*) who beta-read the first chapter and gave me suggestions for the epilogue; Aaand last but not least, my pops, who read Katsuro's story and gave it his approval, even though he kept asking me "what that shinobi crap was all about." And, of course, Kishi-san, because he's great and whatnot.

Thank you everyone who read, favorited, followed, and even more thanks to those who commented. Also, you guys gotta stop reviewing when logged off or make a profile already, so I can send some of you proper messages! *shakes fist*

Anyhow... Yeah that's all.

If you came this far, Thanks for reading :)

(Also, does it make any sense for Madara to have a couch? I mean, he had to have a notion of genetic engineering to be able to infuse Hashirama's genes in his own, but, dear lord, was the world at the time so technologically advanced they had _couches_?! I have no idea, but now they do.)


	14. Ringo no Uta

This happens between chapter twelve and the epilogue, and, for reasons, is the intro to the sequel of this story.

* * *

><p>There was a trail that led from the side of village's graveyard into the nearby woods. Most wouldn't be able to find it unless they were actively looking for it, but, in the man's opinion, it was better like this. If people already had the tendency to believe places of burial were gloomy, he could only imagine what they would think of the destiny the secluded path led to.<p>

It was a small house, crumbling down thanks to years of being battered by rain and termites. Anyone would think the place was deserted, as it certainly didn't look like anyone could live there, but Katsuro knew better.

He approached the house and knocked on the wormy door. There was no reply, and so he figured he should enter. The silence could only mean that he wasn't entirely unwanted, or that the house's occupant had died. If the crone had dropped dead, he was the one responsible for arranging for her body to be buried – preferably outside of the cemetery's grounds – and so he thought he had all the right in the world to enter the house.

Pushing the door, he slid his body inside, trying to keep as much sunlight from getting in as possible. Sure as the day, an old woman sat by an irori, warming her hands in spite of the fact that it wasn't cold. It was her frozen heart that left her in this state, he believed.

The woman's dark eyes were fixated on him, watching his every move. She was tall and thin, her yellow skin stretched over her bones, giving her the appearance of a living skeleton. He knew her to have once been a 'fabled beauty' but the years and hard life she led had stripped her from any sort of good looks.

To reflect the ugliness inside, nothing more fitting.

"There he is." She grinned at him, exhibiting a row of yellow teeth "I knew you'd return soon enough."

Not answering, he walked up to her, laying the basket in his hands by her feet.

"What is in there?" She asked.

"The usual."

Grunting, she reached into the gift to pull out a bottle of saké, that she promptly brought to her lips.

"Lucky as always?" She inquired, and the irony didn't go unnoticed by him.

"The boys left." Katsuro replied, and she nodded.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to kill them." She spoke with conviction "The boys have the scent of death itself – what could a poor farmer like yourself do? Now, your father-"

"They are shinobi." He remarked coldly "They would have snapped his neck in seconds."

"Surely, but at least he knew how to think like them." The hag insisted, setting the bottle down "The smell of death. You used to smell like that, you know. Then you met that girl and started following her around everywhere, and you started smelling like flowers." She snorted "But it's funny how the ones with the strongest wills give their scent to others. Your precious apple blossom" The woman spat, as if the words caused her great disgust "for instance. I would've thought she was strong, but just a couple of days around those boys and she started stinking." And then she laughed, a coarse, dry laughter, that could only come from a throat that was unaccustomed to expressing joy. "I know you told her to be friendly, but just how friendly?"

The man's eyes narrowed dangerously, but other than that, he showed no reaction, choosing to turn around and examine the house.

"The older one's all over her." She continued "I didn't see them together but I could smell him in her. You should be careful, Katsuro. We don't want any more bastards, do we?"

His eyes landed on a branch resting against one of the corners of the room, and took it in his hands, examining it.

"Your walking stick?"

"Yes."

Nodding, he approached the woman once more, setting one of the ends of the object into the fire, before looking her in the eyes.

"You don't need to concern yourself with bastards. You have no business with my daughter, and I have taken time to educate her, as a decent parent ought to do." The flames licked up the staff, reducing its length as the man spoke, leaning closer and closer "You can rest assured that you'll be able to smell the scent she's always had soon enough. Or maybe not. Hopefully, you won't be around to see the sunrise next morning."

With expressionless eyes, the woman eyed the burning stick, before turning to the man "You wound me, son."

"Not nearly as much as you deserve." He retorted, letting the little that remained of the branch fall into the fire and standing up.

Just as he was about to touch the door handle to leave the house, the woman spoke, her voice reverberating in the nearly empty room.

"You may say that, but you always come back. I wonder if it's all guilt for having been born when nobody wanted you."

Katsuro pulled the door open and smashed it closed on his way out.

* * *

><p>So yessss… I'm writing a sequel yay. Some people asked me to do it – even though they might rue the day they did so – so Imma do it. Compared the Apples, this story (that doesn't even have a name yet, and I refuse to call it something like Apples 2 or Apples: The Revenge) has a much less developed plot. I have an idea of how I want it to end and some events I want in between, but I have nothing that's definitive.<p>

That's why I'm asking one thing: Is anyone interested in beta-reading this? I am not going to go from beta-reader to beta-reader to ask if they'd be interested in helping me with this story because I feel there is no need to – but if there is anyone who liked Apples and is interested in the sequel, then you are more welcome to help… Of course, assuming that this person can help me with my grammar and/or plot. I want people whose English skills are better than mine or someone who will see the story beyond the 'Romance' label. Of course, there should be snogging, but I'd love someone who can provide insight regarding character development, and if the events have a logical sequence. Again, the story is not entirely planned out, and everything is subject to change if said changes make sense and are compliant with the canon.

I'm not sure if the people who enjoyed my story are still around, and so, if this story does not amass any interest, I'll drop it, but if at least one person is interested in it, I plan on bringing this story to a conclusion. Also, I won't post the chapters in this story, but I'll write another one. I just figured it would be best to let the people who had followed/favourite the story aware of what is going on.

Honestly, with 51 comments, 46 favs, 34 follows and being added to three communities (one that has "The best Uchiha Madara's stories you could ever found!" as a description, I kid you not, that was flattering beyond belief) I figured that it would be offensive to not do something about.

I just hope I won't blow any respect you guys might have for me xD


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